Kabul: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Afghanistan early Monday as coalition forces continue to restore order in the town of Marjah, the first major test of the US and Nato counterinsurgency strategy since President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 new American troops to blunt the Taliban's momentum.
Gates said the offensive that began last month is encouraging, but he stopped short of saying the success in Marjah suggests that the war is at a turning point.
The Marjah campaign routed most Taliban fighters from a town they once controlled, without a high casualty toll for US troops and the Afghan security forces fighting alongside them.
Despite what he called positive signs, Gates cautioned against optimism.
"People still need to understand there is some very hard fighting, very hard days ahead," Gates told reporters traveling with him for the unannounced visit.
During his visit, Gates is meeting with his top military commanders and senior Afghan officials.
"The early signs are encouraging but I worry that people will get too impatient and think things are better than they actually are," Gates said.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top US general in Afghanistan, told reporters the campaign around Marjah could have been faster, but the cost in civilian casualties would have been unacceptable.
The campaign, he said, could been over in one night. Instead active military operations to rout the Taliban took about three weeks.
The military counts 19 Afghan civilian deaths from errant combat action during the Marjah campaign.
McChrystal said that would been a lot higher without the deliberately slow pace, and without significant local backing for the operation.
The Afghan war is now in its ninth year and unpopular with a majority of Americans.
