KABUL, Afghanistan -- Visits with U.S. troops and Afghan officials in a war-weary region marked Barack Obama's first day in Afghanistan.

While he is officially a part of a congressional delegation on a fact-finding tour that is expected to take him to Iraq, Obama was traveling yesterday amid the publicity and scrutiny accorded a likely Democratic nominee for president rather than a senator from Illinois. Security was tight and media access to Obama was limited by his campaign, and his itinerary in the war zones was a closely guarded secret.

Obama, dressed in light khaki colored trousers and a checkered shirt with his sleeves rolled up, and others in the delegation received a briefing inside the U.S. base in Jalalabad from the Afghan provincial governor of Nangarhar, Gul Agha Sherzai, a no-nonsense, bullish former warlord.

"Obama promised us that if he becomes a president in the future, he will support and help Afghanistan not only in its security sector but also in reconstruction, development and economic sector," Sherzai told The Associated Press.

Obama's first overseas tour since securing the Democratic nomination -- he is scheduled to travel to Europe through next week -- could be key to honing his foreign policy strategy with less than four months before the election. His rival for the presidency, Republican Sen. John McCain, has criticized Obama for not spending more time in the region and for developing a policy without more firsthand knowledge.

Traveling with Obama were Sens. Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, and Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island. Both military veterans, the senators have been mentioned as potential Obama vice presidential running mates, although Reed has said he's not interested in the job and Hagel would be an unlikely cross-party choice.

With the ousted Taliban regime resurgent and given al-Qaida's goal of terrorizing the U.S., Obama has argued that the war in Afghanistan deserves more attention as well as more troops.

Obama advocates ending the U.S. combat role in Iraq by withdrawing troops at the rate of one to two combat brigades a month. He supports increasing the military commitment to Afghanistan, where the Taliban-led insurgency is at its strongest in seven years.

He has proposed sending two more combat divisions -- about 7,000 troops -- to Afghanistan. McCain is also advocating sending more forces to the war-battered country.

Obama has expressed frustration with Afghanistan's neighbor Pakistan's efforts to go after militants in its territory. He recently said that "If Pakistan cannot or will not act, we will take out high-level terrorist targets like bin Laden if we have them in our sights."