The U.S. military chief is in Afghanistan, reviewing security and reconstruction projects in Wardak province.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen met with provincial governor Halim Fedayee and other officials to discuss security issues, reconstruction projects and reviving agriculture projects in the province.
Admiral Mullen also met with U.S. troops who were recently deployed to Wardak for the first time. The province is next door to the capital, Kabul, where militant attacks have been on the rise.
The Obama administration recently unveiled its new strategy to fight an increasingly violent Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. Part of the plan includes sending an additional 21,000 U.S. troops and trainers to secure the south and pumping more money into development projects in both Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan.
There are currently more than 70,000 U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan. But militant violence has risen dramatically in the eight years since a U.S.-led coalition ousted the Taliban government.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
