On March 7, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates arrived in Afghanistan. He is expected to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

The meeting will be held amid U.S.-Afghanistan strained relations. Last week nine Afghan children killed in the NATO air strike, Lenta.ru reports.

Gates will meet with U.S. servicemen in eastern and southern Afghanistan, as well as General David Petraeus, the American commander of Western forces in Afghanistan.

On the threshold of U.S. Defense Secretary’s visit, President Hamid Karzai told the US commander of foreign troops in Afghanistan that his apology for the deaths of 9 children in an air strike is “not enough”.