The US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel arrived in Afghanistan in an unannounced visit to meet with Afghan officials and US troops.
A senior Pentagon official has said that the US defense secretary Chuck Hagel will meet with his Afghan counterpart Gen. Bismillah Mohammadi and Afghan interior minister Mohammad Omar Daudzai during his visit to Afghanistan.
Pentagon spokesman Carl Woog also said that Hagel will meet with the US troops based in Afghanistan, and will thank them for their service to fight far away from home.
The visit by Hagel comes as tensions between Afghan and US officials remains unresolved to finalize the bilateral security agreement between the two nations.
According to reports, Hagel is not scheduled to meet with the Afghan president Hamid Karzai to discuss the controversial bilateral security agreement.
Hagel is the latest senior US official to visit Afghanistan in the recent weeks. US secretary of State John Kerry, national security advisor Susan Rice and US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan James Dobbins have visited the country in a bid to help ease tensions over the bilateral security agreement signing.
However, no breakthrough has been made following the visit of the senior US officials in Afghanistan to finalize the pact, as Afghan president Hamid Karzai has said that he will not sign the agreement as long as Washington does not respond to his demands.
