By DPA
Kabul : Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi arrived here Sunday on an unannounced visit to meet his Afghan counterpart and inspect the Italian peacekeeping contingent in the war-torn country, officials said.
An official from the Italian embassy confirmed Prodi’s arrival and said that he was scheduled to meet Italian troops serving under NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.
He is also expected to meet the top commander in Afghanistan to be briefed on the security situation in the country, the official said.
Italy has deployed around 2,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, with the bulk of them stationed in the peaceful western province of Herat and some around Kabul.
Prodi’s visit came a day after French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who both visited Afghanistan Saturday and reassured their “long-haul” commitments to Afghan government.
The visits by Western leaders come at the end of the bloodiest year since the ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001. More than 6,200 people have been killed in Afghanistan this year.