KABUL, Afghanistan — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis arrived for a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Monday as the Trump administration considers boosting U.S. military support for a conflict that commanders say has degenerated into a stalemate.
The visit, Mattis' first as defense secretary, comes just days after a devastating Taliban attack on one of Afghanistan's largest and most secure bases killed nearly 200 soldiers — leading to the resignation Monday of the country's army chief and defense minister.
The brazen attack Friday was the largest ever carried out by the Taliban against the military. Gunmen dressed in army uniforms penetrated the base and gunned down unarmed servicemen returning from prayers.
The Taliban fighters were ultimately killed by a response force led by Afghan commandos. Gen. John Nicholson, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, praised the elite but overworked units' response that brought the "atrocity to an end."
It is unclear how the attack will affect Afghan recruiting efforts, already strained by casualties and retention rates among the ranks. But the subsequent resignation of the two top military officials is a rare development in Afghan politics.
Speaking to reporters alongside Mattis, Nicholson said the level of sophistication in Friday's attack made it "quite possible" that the gunmen were linked to the Haqqani network, a Taliban splinter faction based in Pakistan.
President Ashaf Ghani accepted the resignations of Defense Minister Abdullah Habibi and Army Chief of Staff Qadam Shah Shahim on Monday.
"No one has put pressure on me. I have resigned for the national interest of the country," Habibi told reporters. Shahim also said he stepped down voluntarily.
Three other top commanders were replaced by Ghani, and the shakeup and resignations have been hailed as a return to government accountability. Retired general and analyst Javid Kohestani said the actions would reduce the "level of mistrust and boost the morale of the troops."
"You will not see an improvement in a society if you do not have a punishment and reward policy," he said.
A U.S. military official said the resignations were "not a surprise." Following an Islamic State raid on a heavily used hospital in Kabul in March, Friday's attack created expectations of blowback within the Afghan leadership.
"We knew there was going to be accountability," the official said.
The Taliban has pledged that the attack is just the beginning of its annual spring offensive. However, since U.S. combat troops mostly withdrew in 2014, the pace of Taliban attacks has remained consistent across the country year-round.
In another apparent Taliban strike, a car bomb exploded Monday outside Camp Chapman, a base used by the U.S. military and others. A U.S. military spokesman, Capt. William Salvin, said there were some Afghan casualties, but none among U.S. or coalition personnel, the Associated Press reported.
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Explore all your optionsCamp Chapman, near the Pakistani border south of Kabul, was the scene of a suicide bombing in 2009 that killed seven CIA officers and contractors.
Mattis, who last visited Afghanistan in 2013 when he was a Marine general and leader of the U.S. Central Command, is wrapping up his six-nation trip through the Middle East and the Horn of Africa.
The United States has been attempting to end its 15-year involvement in Afghanistan and turn over the fight against the Taliban and the Islamic State to local forces.
Friday's devastating attack and the March attack on the Kabul hospital are throwing into question the ability of Afghan forces to secure the country without major U.S. support.
The Afghan defense forces largely responsible for waging the war have suffered from desertions, corruption and defections.
Control of the country is divided between Ghani and his rival, chief executive Abdullah Abdullah. Their rivalry has been blamed for the deterioration of security in the country since their unity government came to power in 2014.
The government has yet to disclose the number of casualties in Friday's attack, but a senior adviser to the governor of Balkh province, where the assault took place, said up to 200 had lost their lives.
"So it's basically incompetence and duty ignorance causing such attacks," said Tahir Qadery, describing the dead as mostly raw recruits. "Some of them had not taken a rifle in their hand in their lifetime."
There are 8,400 U.S. troops in Afghanistan split between performing two roles. One contingent helps advise the Afghan security forces while the other carries out unilateral and partnered counterterrorism operations against groups such as the Islamic State and al-Qaida.
In addition to the U.S. troops, there are roughly 5,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan split among various areas of responsibility.
Nicholson and the head of the Central Command have agreed that roughly 3,000 additional troops are needed to help prop up the fledging Afghan security forces and break what top U.S. officials have called a "stalemate" in Afghanistan. At the height of the war, there were more than 100,000 troops in the country.