America’s longest war: Mattis urges Taliban to seek negotiated settlement

US Defense Secretary arrives in Kabul as rockets hit airport

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN: US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis visited Kabul on Wednesday to pledge support for the government of President Ashraf Ghani, with the precarious security in the Afghan capital underlined by a rocket attack on the airport hours after he touched down.

Mattis, the first member of Donald Trump’s cabinet to visit the country since the US president pledged to stay the course in America’s longest war, warned Taliban they would have to learn they could not defeat the government.

Arriving from India, where he sought support for the US administration’s new South Asia security plan, Mattis promised a more “holistic” approach without fixed timetables and involving other countries in the region, including Pakistan.



Mattis told a joint news conference with Ghani and Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg the US was determined not to allow “a merciless enemy to kill its way to power". “I want to reinforce to the Taliban that the only path to peace and political legitimacy for them is through a negotiated settlement,” he said.

“We know the cost of staying in Afghanistan. But the cost of leaving would be higher. If Nato forces leave too soon, there is a risk Afghanistan may return to a state of chaos and once again become a safe haven for international terrorism.”

Mattis, along with Stoltenberg, held talks with Ghani and other top officials to discuss the US-led Nato “train and assist” mission -- designed to strengthen Afghanistan’s military so it can defend the country on its own.

“I don’t want to tell the enemy exactly what we are doing but the whole point is to make certain we have a compelling battlefield advantage over anything the Taliban tries to mass against your forces,” Mattis said.



October marks the 16^th anniversary of the start of the war. America is pressing Nato partners to increase their own troop levels in the country to help Afghan forces get the upper hand in the grinding battle against the Taliban and Islamic State.

The resurgent Taliban have been mounting deadly attacks as they maintain their grip on large swathes of the country. And on Wednesday, just hours after Mattis flew in, a volley of rockets landed on a house near Kabul airport. One person died and four others were wounded -- all from the same family.

The Taliban said on social media the missiles had been aimed at Mattis’s plane. The Islamic State’s local Khorasan province affiliate also claimed responsibility, as security forces were locked in a stand-off with the attackers. Mattis condemned the attack as a “criminal act by terrorists”, adding that it was a “classic definition of what the Taliban are up to here now”.

Mattis said US forces would do “everything humanly possible” to limit civilian casualties. On allegations that Iran and Russia are actively propping up the Taliban, Mattis said it would be “extremely unwise if they think they can somehow support terrorism in another country and not have it come back to haunt them”. Agencies