Shanahan, making his first trip to Afghanistan in his new role, met U.S. troops and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. Ghani’s government has been shut out of the peace talks between Taliban negotiators and U.S. envoys, with the hardline Islamist movement branding it a U.S. puppet. “It is important that the Afghan government is involved in discussions regarding Afghanistan,” Shanahan told reporters traveling with him on the previously unannounced trip.
