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 05 July 2008 14:02 BST

Vice president Cheney makes unannounced visit to Afghanistan

Thursday, 20 Mar 2008 09:23
Dick Cheney has arrived in Afghanistan
US vice president Dick Cheney has made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan for talks with president Hamid Karzai.

The visit comes ahead of a Nato summit in Romania next month, where Afghanistan is likely to be a key topic after force commanders asked for more troops to sent into the southern region of the country to combat the insurgency.

Mr Cheney's spokeswoman Lee Anne McBride told reporters earlier: "The vice president will discuss the existing US-Afghan strategic partnership and how we'll continue our efforts to fight terrorism."

She claimed that the vice president would discuss with Mr Karzai the progress being made in Afghanistan, especially in the south of the country.

Mr Cheney is also due to meet US troops stationed in Afghanistan, who make up a third of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).

A further 7,000 troops also make up the US-led coalition in the country.

Mr Cheney has visited Afghanistan four times in the past, with his last visit in February 2007 marked by a suicide bombing outside the US base he was visiting, killing at least 20 people.

This most recent visit coincides with the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq.

An extra 3,600 US Marines have recently begun arriving in southern Afghanistan to support Nato troops and combat the expected rise in violence in the coming months.End of story


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