US, Nato renew Afghan commitment
Rocket hits airport as Mattis flies in
US Defense 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 landed on a house near Kabul international airport hours after Mattis flew in, the interior ministry said.
Taliban said they targeted 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.
At a joint news conference with President Ashraf 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.
"We will not abandon Afghanistan to a merciless enemy trying to kill its way to power," Mattis told reporters.
October marks the 16th anniversary of the start of the war.