Bagram: US President Barack Obama slipped unannounced into Afghanistan on Friday, one year after widening an ever deadlier war and just days before a pivotal review about the 9-year-plus conflict.
Plans for a face-to-face meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai were scrapped at the last minute.
Under intense security, Obama landed in darkness after departing from the White House on Thursday, where plans of his trip into the war zone were tightly guarded.
Obama stepped off Air Force One just after 8:30 pm local time, clad in a leather jacket.
Obama was greeted on the tarmac by the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, US General David Petraeus, and US Ambassador Karl Eikenberry.
He was to personally thank US troops for their service during the holidays.
The White House said rough weather forced the president to abruptly drop plans to meet Karzai in Kabul.
The White House determined the wind, dust and cloud cover made it unsafe for the president to fly by helicopter from the huge military complex here to the presidential palace.
In a rapidly changing sequence of events, the White House then said they would speak by secure video conference - but later said that, too, was dropped.
Instead, the two leaders were expected to speak by phone.
In total, Obama was to spend three hours on the ground in Afghanistan, about half the time he had scheduled.
His visit to thank troops and civilian workers came ahead of an upcoming full review of his war plan later this month.
He planned to visit embassy workers and wounded soldiers and speak to troops at a hangar here.
On the flight, the White House said Obama's war review would include no major policy changes.
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