US Defense Secretary Robert Gates says it’s too early to change strategy in Afghan war

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Saturday it would be "premature" to change strategy in the Afghan war and urged Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government to "step up" to ensure that the process of handing control of security from foreign to Afghan troops, due to start within weeks, was a success.

Gates, who was on a surprise farewell trip to the war-torn country Saturday, offered reassurance that the international community would not "rush to the exits" after the planned full withdrawal of foreign combat troops in 2014, but stressed that the commitment to Afghanistan was not forever.

Gates' comments came hours after he touched down in Kabul for a visit which will focus on meetings with some of the roughly 90,000 US troops in Afghanistan after four-and-a-half years heading up the Pentagon. The trip also comes at a crucial moment for US policy on the increasingly unpopular war in Afghanistan.

Speaking at a press conference alongside Karzai, Gates told reporters that he was in favor of sticking with the current war strategy before assessing progress at the end of the year. "Making any change prior to that time would be premature," he added.

Gates also called on the Afghan government to do more to make the transition process, due to start around July with Afghan security forces taking control from foreign troops in seven areas, a success. "For this upcoming transition to be successful, the Afghan government and security forces must be willing to step up and take more and more responsibility," he said. He added that civilian casualties in the country were "losses we mourn and profoundly regret."