US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel arrived in Kabul on Saturday on an unannounced visit to Afghanistan in the final weeks of NATO's US-led 13-year war against the Taliban, an AFP reporter said.
Hagel told reporters before landing that Afghanistan had "come a long way" over the past decade and that a newly-elected Afghan government and its army were ready to take charge as the bulk of the international force departs by the end of the month.