US Vice President made unannounced visit to Afghanistan

Almaty. December 22. Silkroadnews - At the meeting with Afghan leader Ashraf Ghani, held in Kabul on Thursday, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said security can be restored in the country, the Afghan Telegraph Agency (AfTAG) reports.
“We believe that we are now on a path to achieving a lasting victory for freedom and security in Afghanistan,” the White House press corps quoted him saying.
Pence arrived in Afghanistan on Thursday, landing at the Bagram air base. His visit included a perilous helicopter dash from Bagram into the heart of the capital Kabul to meet President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah. The trip to Afghanistan was kept secret, only a few officials of the White House and few accredited journalists knew about it. Press corps voiced the statements almost at the end of the visit.
At the Bagram base Pence also spoke in front of American military. “Your mission here in Afghanistan is vital to the safety and security of the American people,” he said. “… together with our allies, we came here to Afghanistan to liberate its people and prevent the terrorist from every threatening our homeland again. And we are staying in that fight and we will see it through to the end.”
“Under President Donald Trump, the Armed Forces of the United States will remain engaged in Afghanistan until we eliminate the terrorist threat to our homeland, our people once and for all,” Pence said. He also reminded, the achievements the U.S. are proud of have come at a great cost. More than 3,500 members of allied forces have lost their lives over the past 16 years, including 2,308 Americans.
Speaking to reporters later, the vice president said Ghani told him that more senior Taliban leaders were eliminated in 2017 than in all prior years of the war combined. Pence also confirmed he has a travel to the Middle East on his schedule in January 2018.