US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter arrived in Afghanistan on Friday as part of an unannounced visit to meet with military commanders, US troops and Afghan officials, Khaama Press reported.

Ashton's visit to Afghanistan comes amid deteriorating security situation in the country with Pentagon reporting an overall deteriorating situation during the second half of 2015.

Afghanistan is facing threats from both Afghan insurgency and extremist networks, including the Taliban, the Haqqani Network and to a lesser extent al Qaeda.

Sources: MENA