KABUL – US Defense Secretary Mark Esper arrived in Kabul Sunday on anunannounced visit, an Afghan official said.
Esper’s visit — his first to Afghanistan since being confirmed as Pentagonchief in July — comes amid deep uncertainty about the fate of America’smilitary mission in Afghanistan after talks between Washington and theTaliban collapsed.
According to Fawad Aman, a spokesman for the Afghan defence ministry, Esperwas due to meet with “key leaders and receive an operational update”. The United States and the Taliban were last month on the brink of signing adeal that would have seen US forces begin to withdraw from Afghanistan inreturn for various insurgent security commitments.
But negotiations collapsed at the last minute when President Donald Trumpdeclared talks “dead” following a Taliban attack that killed a US soldier.
Read Top Stories
Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special envoy leading negotiations, has sincespoken informally with Taliban officials in Pakistan, raising thepossibility the US is seeking to resume talks.
US Forces-Afghanistan, headquartered in Kabul, did not immediately return arequest for comment on Esper’s visit. -APP/AFP
