Acting Pentagon Chief Arrives in Afghanistan for Unannounced Visit

Acting defence secretary of the United States Patrick Shanahan has arrived in Afghanistan on Monday with a surprise visit.

Patrick Shanahan arrived in Afghanistan on Monday with an unannounced visit, in order to meet with the US military command and the Afghan authorities amid peace talks with the Taliban movement, Associated Press reported.

The acting defence chief said that the United States has important security interests in the region and wanted to hear from commanders on the ground.

READ MORE: US Promised Taliban to Pullout Half of Troops From Afghanistan by End of April

This is Shanahan's first visit to Afghanistan since he assumed the post of the acting US Secretary of Defence.

Previous month, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani vowed to try to remove all foreign troops from the country. Also, an agreement on the possible withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan was reportedly reached during recent talks between the United States and the Taliban in Qatar. The movement, for its part, pledged to prevent terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda* terror group from using Afghanistan as a base to carry out operations in other countries.

*Al Qaeda is a terrorist group banned in Russia, US and many other countries.