Special Report: U.S. presidential election 2008    

    KABUL, July 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama arrived in the Afghan capital Kabul Saturday, an official with the Afghan foreign ministry said.

    "Senator Obama is currently in Afghanistan," the official told Xinhua but refused to be named.

    The Democratic contender in the U.S. presidential race would call on President Hamid Karzai and exchange views on matters pertaining security situation in Afghanistan and the war on terror, according to the source.

    Obama over the past months has promised to send more troops to Afghanistan if he wins the coming presidential polls in the United States.

    During his stay in Afghanistan, he would also visit U.S. troops based in the post-Taliban nation, according to the official.

    More than 28,000 U.S. troops including 13,000 within the framework of some 55,000 NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have been serving in Afghanistan to stabilize security in the war-torn country.

    The Pentagon for the first time confirmed that U.S. troops have suffered more casualties in Afghanistan over the past two months than in Iraq.

    Obama left the United States on Thursday, stopped first in Kuwait and will also visit Iraq, Jordan and Israel, the official said.