KABUL, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday reiterated United States support to Afghan security forces and the people of Afghanistan.
"The United States remains fully committed to the mission to train, advice and to assist the Afghan security forces as they combat the insurgency to protect their people," Kerry told a joint press briefing with Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani.
Kerry added that the U.S. will firmly continue to help Afghans in the fight against Taliban militants and Islamic State (IS) terror outfit, saying "we are also deepening our counter-terrorism cooperation."
The top U.S. diplomat arrived in Kabul earlier on Saturday for an unannounced visit.
The comments came as the violence has been on the rise in countryside as the spring and summer known as fighting season is drawing near. The Taliban insurgent group and IS militants have also increased their attacks since the drawdown of foreign forces over the past two years.
Nearly 13,000 foreign forces are currently stationed in Afghanistan within the framework of the NATO-led Resolute Support (RS) mission to help Afghan forces in the field of training and advising.
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