US defense chief backs Kabul

▶ Afghan government deserves seat at peace talks: Shanahan

Acting US defense secretary Patrick Shanahan arrived in Afghanistan on Monday and said it is important that the Afghan government is involved in talks, from which it has so far been excluded, to end the 17-year-old war.

Shanahan, who will meet US troops and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on his first trip in his new role, said he had so far not received any direction to reduce the nearly 14,000 US troops in Afghanistan. He also said the US has important security interests in the region.

Ghani’s government has been shut out of the evolving peace talks between Taliban negotiators and US envoys, with the hard-line Islamist movement branding his government a US puppet. Kabul is also concerned that a sharp drawdown of US forces could lead to chaos in the region.

“It is important that the Afghan government is involved in discussions regarding Afghanistan,” Shanahan told a small group of reporters traveling with him on the unannounced trip.

“The Afghans have to decide what Afghanistan looks like in the future.”

Shanahan took over from Jim Mattis, who quit in December over policy differences with US President Donald Trump.

He said he could not make any guarantees because US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad was leading the talks.

“The US military has strong security interests in the region. [The] presence will evolve out of those discussions,” he said.

He also said his goal on the trip was to get an understanding of the situation on the ground from commanders and then to brief Trump on his findings.

US officials have held rounds of talks with the Taliban in Qatar since last year in what is widely seen as the most serious bid yet for peace in Afghanistan since the Taliban were ousted by US-backed Afghan forces in late 2001.

Both sides hailed progress after the latest round last month, although significant obstacles remain. Those include the involvement of the Afghan government, which the Taliban refuse to acknowledge.

The next round of talks is due in Qatar on February 25.

Michael Kugelman, a South Asia specialist at the Woodrow Wilson Center, said Shanahan’s main priority in Kabul should be to address Afghan government concerns.