US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter landed in Afghanistan Friday on an unannounced visit, as uncertainty lingers over President-elect Donald Trump's strategy on America's longest war with no end in sight. Carter is expected to meet Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and American troops on his last official trip to Afghanistan before he hands over the reins to Trump's pick for Pentagon chief, the hardline retired general James Mattis.
Carter's visit comes as concerns mount over growing insecurity in Afghanistan, where around 10,000 US troops are assisting struggling Afghan forces to combat a resilient Taliban insurgency along with al Qaeda and Islamic State militants. "SecDef arrives in Afghanistan to visit troops, receive an update on efforts to support Afghan security forces & meet with senior officials," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said on Twitter. Afghanistan got scarcely a passing mention in the bitterly contested US presidential election - even though the situation in the conflict-torn country will be an urgent matter for the new president.
Trump has given surprisingly little details on his expected foreign policy, with even fewer specifics on how he will tackle the war in Afghanistan. The Taliban are ramping up nation-wide attacks despite the onset of winter, when fighting usually ebbs, even as international efforts intensify to jumpstart peace talks. Carter landed at Bagram Airfield, the largest US military base in Afghanistan, where four Americans were killed in a suicide bombing in November, in a major breach of security. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing inside the heavily fortified base, north of the capital Kabul, which left 16 other US service members and a Polish soldier wounded as the insurgents step up attacks on Western targets. One of the most important questions facing Trump on Afghanistan is how many American troops will stay in the country, observers say.
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