Acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan arrives in Afghanistan
11.02.2019
Acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan arrived in Afghanistan on an unannounced visit on Monday as the United States leads a push for peace talks with the Taliban.
Shanahan will meet President Ashraf Ghani, who has warned against rushing into a deal after Washington held major talks with Taliban officials in Qatar last month that negotiators hope could herald a breakthrough in the grinding 17-year conflict.
President Trump is pushing to end U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, where 14,000 American troops are still deployed, raising fears in Afghanistan that the U.S. could exit before securing a lasting peace between the Taliban and the Kabul government.