KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Defense Secretary Gates arrived in Afghanistan's capital Thursday for meetings with President Hamid Karzai and top NATO commander Gen. David Petraeus.

The Pentagon chief also plans to visit U.S. troops.

Gates flew Thursday morning to Kabul from Baghdad, where he participated in ceremonies marking the formal close of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq.

The end of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan is still far away. Two U.S. service members were killed Thursday in separate attacks in the country's east and south -- regions where fighting between the coalition and Taliban insurgents has been at its most intense.

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