The US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan is in the Afghan capital Kabul for talks with Afghan and US military leaders, the U.S. military said today.
Richard Holbrooke's visit comes a day after a summit of Nato leaders agreed to deploy 3,000 additional troops to help provide security for Aug. 20 presidential elections in Afghanistan.
Violence in Afghanistan has reached its highest level since the US-led overthrow of the Taliban in 2001 and some 70,000 foreign troops are locked in a stalemate with militants mainly in the south and east of the country.
The troops pledged by Nato members at the summit would be on short-term assignments and some 2,000 additional personnel will be deployed to train Afghan security forces.
President Barack Obama's European allies have stopped short of offering long-term troop deployments for the military operation in Afghanistan but also promised to provide $600 million to finance the Afghan army and for civilian assistance.
Mr Obama last month unveiled a new strategy for the conflict in Afghanistan with an emphasis on al-Qaeda and Taliban cells in neighbouring Pakistan, which as been targeted by militants, and engagement with western Afghanistan's neighbour Iran.
Reuters