Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates made a surprise visit to Afghanistan Tuesday to meet with officials and deliver a pat on the back to American troops slugging it out with militants there for more than nine years.
He touched down at Bagram Air Base in a stop made just days after U.S. President Barack Obama's trip to the country and on the same day British Prime Minister David Cameron was traveling there.
Later, he landed at Forward Operating Base Joyce in Kunar Province, where he was to speak to troops. The province is in eastern Afghanistan and is in a perilous area along the border with Pakistan.
The visit comes after a trip to Oman, where Gates visited the USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of the Gulf state and praised crew members for their support of the Afghan war effort. He also met with the country's leaders.
The activity coincides with coalition efforts to ramp up the fight against Taliban militants and ahead of a major U.S. military review of the war in Afghanistan is expected this month. CNN
