KABUL, March 30 (Xinhuanet) -- American first lady Laura Bush Wednesday made her first visit to Afghanistan, a country her husband George W. Bush is yet to visit, to promote education opportunities for Afghan women in the post-Taliban era.

    The First Lady began her 5-hour visit at Bagram Airfield, one of US main bases in Afghanistan, where she went on board a military helicopter to visit a teacher-training institute in Kabul.

    Upon her arrival, Mrs. Bush brought a gift of 17.7 million US dollars grant to American University, which is still a sketch at present, and another 3.5 million dollars for the International School.

    Laura, as part of a delegation of the US-Afghan Women's Council, which has been working since 2002 between the two countries to promote Afghan women's rights in education, expressed her concern over the present situation of women's status which has not improved much after the fall of Taliban regime in late 2001.

    The First Lady went back to Bagram to dine with the US troops after meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the palace, wrapping up her long-waited journey in the post-conflict country.

    Few hours before the First Lady's landing, a car bomb went off in the eastern city of Jalalabad, likely a suicide attack near the governor's office, killing the driver.

    A similar incident occurred when Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state paid her first one-day visit after taking office. Two roadside bomb explosions killed five civilians in the southern Kandahar province nearly two weeks ago.

    Laura's trip was not previously announced due to security reasons until several hours before her arrival. A new wave of attacks on the US-led coalition force and Afghan National Army have claimed four lives of US troops and injured more than a dozen including US and Afghan soldiers since last week.

    The US military is yet to begin the traditional spring offensive operation when the ousted Taliban and its militias are likely to step up attacks with the sitting of spring as they have done for the past three years. Enditem