James Mattis arrives in Afghanistan on surprise visit

KABUL: US Secretary of Defence James Mattis made a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Friday.

Mattis arrived here on Friday morning and is scheduled to meet Army Gen. Scott Miller, the new Commander of Resolute Support and US Forces-Afghanistan, who assumed the role last week, reports CNN.

During a dialogue in New Delhi on Thursday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Mattis, and their Indian counterparts, “reaffirmed their shared commitment to a united, sovereign, democratic, inclusive, stable, prosperous, and peaceful Afghanistan”, according to a joint statement.

Earlier this week, Pompeo named veteran diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad as a newly-named State Department special envoy to Afghanistan.

Khalilzad, Pompeo said, would be “full time focused on developing the opportunities to get the Afghans and the Taliban to come to a reconciliation.”