Mattis in Afghanistan amid new assault

US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg renewed their commitment to Afghanistan yesterday as insurgents fired rockets that killed one person and wounded four in Kabul.

Mattis is the first member of US President Donald Trump’s cabinet to visit the country since Trump pledged to stay the course in America’s longest war.

In a sign of the nation’s continuing insecurity, a volley of rockets had landed on a house near Kabul’s international airport hours after Mattis flew in, the interior ministry said.

One person died and four others were wounded – all from the same family – in the assault claimed by the Taliban, which said on social media the missiles had been aimed at Mattis’s plane.

The Islamic State’s local Khorasan province affiliate also claimed responsibility, as security forces were locked in a stand-off with the attackers.

The unannounced high-level visit came as Afghanistan’s beleaguered security forces struggle to beat back the Taliban, which has been on the offensive since the withdrawal of US-led Nato combat troops at the end of 2014.

Mattis and Stoltenberg were in the county to hold talks with President Ashraf Ghani and other officials to discuss the US-led Nato “train-and-assist” mission – designed to strengthen Afghanistan’s military so it can defend the country on its own.

At a joint news conference with Ghani at the presidential palace, Mattis and Stoltenberg pledged the support of US and Nato allies to the Afghan conflict, and expressed determination to stop the country becoming a safe haven for terrorists.

The foreign assistance would give Afghan forces a compelling battlefield advantage over anything the Taliban stood to mass against it, Mattis said.

“We will not abandon Afghanistan to a merciless enemy trying to kill its way to power.”

Stoltenberg said: “The more stable Afghanistan is the safer we will be,” adding that more than 15 Nato members had agreed to send additional troops.

US generals have for months been describing the situation in Afghanistan as a stalemate, despite years of support for Afghan partners, continued help from a Nato coalition and an overall cost in fighting and reconstruction to the United States of more than $1-trillion (R13.5-trillion). Next month marks the 16th anniversary of the start of the war.

The resurgent Taliban have promised to turn Afghanistan into a graveyard for foreign forces and have been mounting deadly attacks as they maintain their grip on large swathes of the country.

On allegations that Iran and Russia are actively propping up the Taliban, Mattis said it would be “extremely unwise if they think they can somehow support terrorism in another country and not have it come back to haunt them”.

Under Trump’s plan, the US is sending more than 3 000 additional troops to Afghanistan, on top of the 11 000 already on the ground, to train and advise the country’s security forces.

Nato allies have about 5 000 troops deployed around the country.