Kerry makes surprise visit to Afghanistan to push unity talks

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The Hill:

Secretary of State John Kerry made a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Thursday to push unity talks following a contentious election and growing violence in the country.

 

The visit comes just days after U.S. forces suffered their highest-ranking fatality in the Afghanistan War. On Tuesday, Major General Harold Greene was killed by an Afghan soldier at the country’s national defense university.

 

The killing highlighted the challenges facing the Obama administration as the U.S. and NATO drawdown forces and hand over security to the Afghan government.

 

The Kabul government, though, is paralyzed amid a fight between two presidential candidates: Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah.

Kerry plans to meet both candidates on Thursday night in hopes of speeding up an election recount, according to State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.