Christopher Miller, the acting US defense secretary of Afghanistan, made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan, where he met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the presidential palace in Kabul, TOLOnews reported.

Secretary Miller landed in Afghanistan on Tuesday and the visit was kept secret until he departed from the country due to security reasons. Both Ghani and Miller discussed the Afghan peace process, the security situation in Afghanistan, and the continued US support for Afghan forces, said Sediq Siddique, the spokesperson of the presidential palace. 

“Acting Secretary Miller also met with General Scot Miller, Commander Resolute Support Mission (RS) and US Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A) to gain his assessment of overall security situation…” reads a statement released by the US government.

Miller becomes the second high-ranking US official to have visited Afghanistan in a week’s time. Earlier on 16 December, US top General Mark Milley had also visited Afghanistan.

Last month, Miller had ordered a further drawdown of US forces to 2500 troops from Afghanistan by 15 January. The coalition forces are in the transition phase of transferring most security responsibility over to the Afghan forces.

Under the US-Taliban agreement, signed on 29 February this year, all foreign forces in Afghanistan are required to leave the country by May 2020. Despite their commitment under the US-Taliban deal, the Taliban has not reduced the level of violence in Afghanistan.

NATO has repeatedly warned against the complete troop withdrawal fearing deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan. NATO is expected to decide its future course, in the absence of the US, in February next year during the NATO defense ministers meeting.