Barack Obama’s Afghanistan visit boosts US troops

President Barack Obama, who was on an unannounced trip to Afghanistan on Friday to boost morales of US troops fighting Talibans, said “you will succeed in your mission.”

“You’re achieving your objectives, you will succeed in your mission,” Obama told some 3,000 US soldiers gathered at the Bagram Air Base.

“Today we can be proud that there are fewer areas under Taliban control,” Obama told the soldiers at the base near Kabul.

“We said we were going to break the Taliban’s momentum. That’s what you’re doing,” he said after touching down the air base outside Kabul.

The brief visit was a year after Obama ordered a troop “surge” in Afghanistan with 30,000 reinforcements.

This was Obama’s second trip as President to the war-torn country.

“There are going to be difficult days ahead” in the fight against insurgents,” Obama told the troops.

“I don’t need to tell you this is a tough fight. I just came from the medical unit and saw our wounded warriors,” he said.

“I just talked to the platoon that lost six of their buddies in a senseless act of violence. It is a tough business. Progress comes slow.”

The US President’s national security team is expected to report on the new strategy later this month.

He also said he was looking forward to “a new phase next year, the beginning of transition to Afghan responsibility”.

He also spoke to President Hamid Karzai for about 15 minutes by telephone.

Obama was due to meet President Karzai face-to-face during his brief visit, but bad weather prevented him from travelling to Kabul, forcing the two men to speak via telephone, the White House said.

Karzai had complained about American military tactics, and criticised the decision to start withdrawing US troops in July next year.