US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel said that Afghanistan's security transition is on "the right path" despite his strained two-day visit to the country during which press conferences were cancelled over security concerns and the Afghan president accused America of working with the Taliban.
Upon his return to the US, Hagel remarked on Afghanistan's progress and said there was a "renewed sense of commitment"
"You look over the past 11 years, it's pretty dramatic what's happened in this country," Hagel said. "I'm confident, after being here for two days and getting a renewed sense of commitment, both from the Afghans and our partners ... that we're on the right path."
Hagel left Afghanistan on Monday after meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai as well as the US and Isaf commanders.
He said that he had a "very direct conversation" about the transition with Karzai, adding that the two men have "always had a good relationship."
On the day Hagel left Afghanistan, seven US soldiers were killed, almost as many as the eight American soldiers killed so far in 2013 in the Afghan war.
Five US soldiers died in a helicopter crash in southern Kandahar province on Monday evening. And two US special forces were killed by an Afghan police officer in Maidan Wardak province Monday morning.
Hagel acknowledged there would be challenges ahead for the transition but said it will continue even if the solutions were "imperfect".
"We should always be mindful of the higher purpose of what we're doing and why," he said.
Tensions were high during Hagel's visit after the two countries failed to fully agree on the transfer of Bagram prison north of Kabul from the US military to the Afghans.
The next day, Karzai publicly stated that the senior Taliban leaders and the US are holding talks in Qatar and Europe without the Afghan government.
"The senior leaders of the Taliban and the Americans are engaged in talks in Europe and the Gulf state every day," Karzai said.
Furthermore, there was the sensitive issue of the US Special Forces expulsion from Maidan Wardak province over abuse of civilians.
Hagel sounded hopeful that a deal could be reached on their continued deployment, but acknowledged no breakthroughs were made in his talks with Karzai.
There are around 66,000 US troops in Afghanistan helping over 300,000 Afghan security forces fight insurgency.