Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Islamabad for talks with President Pervez Musharraf to show solidarity with the Pakistani people following the Oct. 8 earthquake which killed 23,000 people and injured 50,000, according to official figures.

The visit to Pakistan, an important ally in the war on terrorism, wasn't part of her original itinerary. Yesterday, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz called for more aid in rescue and recovery efforts in the north of the country after the earthquake.

The visit to Islamabad is a symbolic gesture of support that aides traveling with her said was planned in a way so as not to interfere with relief efforts.

Rice earlier visited Kabul and met with President Hamid Karzai and members of his cabinet. She spent about five hours in Afghanistan as part of a Central Asian tour aimed at boosting democratic reform, cooperating on counterterrorism and bolstering U.S. influence in the energy-rich area where Russia and China are also vying for increased access.

Rice visited Afghanistan to demonstrate U.S. commitment to helping restore security to the country, still unstable since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001 by U.S.-led coalition forces. Rice talked about how to keep the international community engaged in the country, where attacks by insurgents continued today.

``We are not going to leave as we once did,'' Rice said at a press conference in Kabul after meeting Karzai.

Aid Workers

Five aid workers and six police officers were killed in separate attacks today in Afghanistan, Agence France-Presse reported, citing unidentified officials. Earlier, a rocket was fired at a Canadian Embassy-owned residence in Kabul, hours before Rice arrived, AFP reported, citing witnesses.

Rice also discussed efforts to eradicate opium cultivation in the country, the world's biggest producer.

``We have to talk about how to build a sustainable economy in Afghanistan,'' she told reporters on the plane before arriving in Kabul.

The U.S. will continue to review its force posture in light of the recent political developments and increased training of Afghan forces. The U.S. has 18,000 soldiers in Afghanistan. The national Afghan army and police have 26,300 and 52,000 personnel respectively, Rice said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Janine Zacharia in Kabul on at jzacharia@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 12, 2005 07:25 EDT