US President Barack
Obama has pledged to "finish the job" and end the Afghan war,
addressing the US public live from a military base in Afghanistan. Speaking a year after Osama Bin Laden's death,
he thanked US troops and hailed plans to end combat operations. Mr Obama
arrived in Afghanistan on a surprise visit to sign an agreement on future
Afghan-US ties with President Hamid Karzai, ahead of a Nato summit. Hours after
his speech at least six people died in a bomb blast in Kabul. Afghan officials
said at least two suicide bombers targeted a guesthouse popular with foreigners
in the eastern part of the Afghan capital. They said that most of the victims
were civilians. Two security officials later told the BBC that two to three
attackers were still holed up in a building near the scene of the original
attack. They have been firing from machine guns and firing RPGs. Police have
now surrounded the area. The Taliban later claimed responsibility for the
attacks.
'National security'
Earlier, Mr Obama said
signing the pact with President Karzai was "a historic moment" for
both nations. Hit visit and TV address come as correspondents say public
patience with the war in Afghanistan is wearing thin. In the speech, beamed
back to prime-time evening audiences in US, the president said that at the
upcoming Nato summit, to be held in Chicago, the alliance would "set a
goal for Afghan forces to be in the lead for combat operations across the
country next year". Nato has already committed to withdrawing from combat operations
in Afghanistan by the end of 2014. "I will not keep Americans in harm's way
a single day longer than is absolutely required for our national
security," Mr Obama said. "But we must finish the job we started in
Afghanistan, and end this war responsibly." Correspondents say Mr Obama's
words appear to be aimed at showing American voters he is pursuing a strategy
to wind down the war, while reassuring Afghans in the face of a continuing
Taliban insurgency.
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