US VP-elect Biden in Afghanistan for talks

Kabul: US Vice President-elect Joe Biden arrived in Afghanistan on Saturday for talks with the country's leaders amid surging Taliban violence.

Biden and South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham will meet with President Hamid Karzai and US Gen. David McKiernan.

"It is just a quick visit to Kabul to meet with the leadership and make the initial introduction as part of a roundtrip to the region," said US military spokesman Greg Julian.

The US is rushing 20,000 American troops into Afghanistan to combat the Taliban. In 2008, 151 US troops died in the country.

Biden's visit follows his trip to neighbouring Pakistan, where aides said he met with President Asif Ali Zadari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.