‘News conf. by Karzai, Hagel cancelled’

A news conference scheduled for Afghan President Hamid Karzai and US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has been cancelled over security concerns in the war-torn Afghanistan, US officials say.

No further information was provided by the American officials with regard to the cancellation of the joint news conference on Sunday.

This comes a day after at least nine people were killed and ten others injured following an explosion near Afghanistan’s defense ministry in the capital Kabul, during US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s first visit to the country.

The Taliban militants immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

A spokesman for the Pentagon chief said that Hagel ” was in a briefing when he incident occurred.”

The United States currently has 66,000 troops in Afghanistan, down from about 100,000 in 2010. The US has announced plans to decrease its troop level to about 32,000 by early 2014.

The US invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 under the pretext of combating terrorism. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity continues to rise across the country despite the presence of thousands of US-led soldiers.

According to the website icasualties.org, 3,259 foreign soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since the US-led war began in 2001.