US Defence Secretary Mark Esper arrived in Afghanistan on Sunday in a bid to bring talks with the Taliban back on track after President Donald Trump abruptly broke off negotiations last month seeking to end the United States' longest war. Esper's trip to Kabul comes amid questions about the United States' commitments to allies after a sudden withdrawal of US troops from northeastern Syria and Trump's long-time desire to get out of foreign engagements.

"The aim is to still get a peace agreement at some point, a political agreement. That is the best way forward," Esper told reporters travelling with him to Afghanistan. He is due to meet President Ashraf Ghani and US troops while in Afghanistan. "I hope we can move forward and come up with a political agreement that meets our ends and meets the goals we want to achieve," Esper said, adding that talks were in the State Department's domain.