Mattis travels to Kabul in hopes of Taliban talks

Jim Mattis, the US defence secretary, met with Afghan leaders during an unannounced visit to Kabul yesterday, adding his weight to a flurry of diplomatic efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table.

The trip comes a year after Donald Trump, the US president, unveiled a revamped strategy for Afghanistan that committed thousands of additional US forces on an open-ended basis. Mr Mattis met Ashraf Ghani, the country’s president, and General Scott Miller, the new US commander for American and Nato forces.