Kabul, December 08: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates flew into Kabul on Tuesday for talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and commanders about Washington’s new strategy to send 30,000 extra troops to fight the Taliban.
His arrival marks the first official visit by the US administration since President Barack Obama last week announced he would raise to 100,000 the US deployment in Afghanistan to counter a rising Taliban insurgency.
The Pentagon has announced the first wave of 1,500 extra US Marines will begin arriving in southern Afghanistan next week as the top military officer said they had a short window to seize back the initiative from the Taliban.
“We want to talk with President Karzai and (defence) Minister Wardak about the president’s decision and the implementation of that decision, how we will use our troops and the additional troops from our allies in partnership with the Afghan national security forces,” Gates told journalists on the plane.
—Agencies