US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised the progress Afghanistan has made since 2001 in the fight against terrorism, but admitted that it was a long war and "the work is not complete." Rice and her British counterpart Foreign Secretary David Miliband arrived Thursday on a surprise visit to Afghanistan and held talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, according to dpa. "Could we all expect that the security situation would still be difficult? Yes, because Afghanistan has determined enemies, who laid waste in this country over the period of more than a decade," Rice told a joint press conference with Karzai and Miliband in the Afghan presidential palace. "So it will be difficult to build an institution like a security institution," Rice said, adding, "I believe what we have been doing in counter-insurgency struggle in Afghanistan is having good effect, but the work is not complete." Karzai also cited the progress made in the country under his leadership and stressed that Afghanistan was in the centre of international communities' attention. "More attention to Afghanistan is welcome, more attention to all aspects of life in Afghanistan including security and reconstruction is welcome, but Afghanistan, having been forgotten? No," Karzai said. Miliband also reassured of his country's longterm commitment to Afghanistan, saying that Britain would work with Afghan government "against the shared enemies that we have. "The enemies of terrorism, the enemies of poverty, the enemies of real health, the enemies of economic development, all of which conspire against the aspiration of Afghan people to build a decent life for themselves," Miliband said. Both diplomats arrived from London, where they participated in talks on how to get other NATO allies to send their troops to Afghanistan's restive southern region, where the Taliban insurgency is at its peak. Before arriving to Kabul, Rice and Miliband first landed in Kandahar province, once the stronghold of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, where they met members of multi-nation coalition forces. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates recently called on NATO allies to send more troops to the south, where US forces have so far borne the brunt of the fighting, and was critical of those countries that hadn't shown a willingness to fight to eliminate the Taliban. Germany has rejected Gates' call for troops in the south, offering instead an additional 200 soldiers as part of the Quick Reaction Force in northern Mazar-e-Sharif. Asked if Karzai would like to see the German troops deployed to southern region, he said, "I am trying to keep away from these negotiations on the level of troops on the increase on where each country should go." "We are grateful for all NATO members for having contributed to Afghanistan in whatever way they have," Karzai added. NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), made up of troops from 37 countries, now has about 43,000 soldiers while an additional 13,000 US troops are participating in a separate operation to hunt down remnants of the Taliban and al-Qeada terrorist network.
