Biden on surprise visit to Afghanistan

US Vice President Joe Biden has made a surprise visit to Afghanistan to meet top Afghan officials as well as US military personnel in the country.

The White House said on Monday that Biden’s visit was aimed at assessing the security situation in Afghanistan ahead of the planned start for the withdrawal of US troops in the upcoming July, the Associated Press reported.

The visit comes amid mounting questions about the pace of progress in the nearly decade-long war.

NATO and US officials have claimed gains in defeating the Taliban. But the militants have repeatedly shown their ability to regroup and carry out attacks against the Afghan army and US-led foreign forces across the violence-weary country.

Afghan forces are set to assume full responsibility for security by 2014.

US President Barack Obama also made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan in early December where he addressed his troops at the Bagram Air Field military base, but failed to meet his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai.

It was unclear whether part of the reason for Biden’s visit was to smoothen out things with Karzai.

Last year was the deadliest for US-led NATO forces in the country, with at least 711 troops slain.

Biden is also reported to be heading to the Pakistani capital of Islamabad later this week.