US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel arrived in Afghanistan on Saturday for his first visit since taking the post, but his trip was marred by insurgent suicide bombings and last-minute delays in a long-awaited deal to transfer a US detention center to Afghan control.
Nineteen Afghans were killed - including eight children - in two separate suicide attacks in Kabul and in the eastern Khost province Saturday. A US contractor was killed and four soldiers injured when attackers thought to be Afghan soldiers stormed their base and opened fire Friday, just hours before Hagel arrived. (AP)