Rice and Miliband in Afghanistan in show of unity

By Sue Pleming

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband arrived in Afghanistan on Thursday in a symbolic show of unity, pressing reluctant NATO allies to share the combat burden.

"Frankly, I hope there will be more troop contributions and there needs to be more Afghan forces," Rice told reporters travelling with her on the flight from London.

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Rice, speaking against the backdrop of a NATO defence ministers' meeting in Lithuania, said alliance members needed to "come together to give enough military power to do what needs to be done on the front end of the counter-insurgency effort".

After flying into the Afghan capital Kabul, Rice and Miliband travelled in a U.S. military plane to a sprawling base in the southern city of Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban and the main city in Afghanistan's most volatile region.