KABUL (SW) – The U.S. acting secretary of defense, Pat Shanahan, landed in Kabul on Monday on his maiden trip to Afghanistan since taking charge.
Shanahan is set to meet leaders of the National Unity Government leaders in Kabul as well as the U.S. forces stationed in Afghanistan.
“It is important that the Afghan government is involved in discussions regarding Afghanistan,” Shanahan told a small group of reporters traveling with him on the unannounced trip.
He met his Afghan counterpart, Assadullah Khalid. According to the Ministry of Defense Shanahan reassured support for the Afghan National Army, and vowed the U.S. would not leave the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces alone in the fight against terrorism.
A day earlier, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani told a public gathering in Nangarhar that the government can offer security and offices to the Taliban in Kabul, Nangarhar or Kandahar if they wish to make peace.
The U.S. acting secretary of defense is visiting Afghanistan as the U.S. Envoy for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, held six-day talks with the Taliban in Qatar in January.
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