KABUL: The new head of NATO was in Kabul on Wednesday to assess alliance efforts in the fight against insurgents, making a surprise visit to Afghanistan on his third day in office, a NATO official said.

"He is here," a press officer for NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in reference to former Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who took charge of the 28-nation alliance on Monday.

"He is touring the facilities and he is meeting with top officials," said the spokesman, Lieutenant Robert Carr.

Rasmussen took office in Brussels, pledging to prevent Afghanistan from once more becoming the hub of international terrorism as he laid out his priorities at a time when NATO is embroiled in its biggest ever mission.LINK