Barack Obama rallies forces on visit to Afghanistan

Barack Obama has told US forces on his first visit to Afghanistan as US president that they are there to help Afghans to forge a "hard-won peace".

Mr Obama said America had not chosen the war, and had not sought to meddle in Afghan affairs or expand its influence.

It had, he said, been "attacked viciously on 9/11", and al-Qaeda leaders and their Taliban allies were still in the region and had to be defeated.

The US aimed to deny al-Qaeda a safe haven and reverse the Taliban's momentum, he said.
"They are hunkered down. They are worried about their own safety. It's harder for them to move and to train and to plot and to attack. - BBC News
Obama hails forces on Afghan trip