Afghan President Hamid Karzai says a peace conference in late April will focus on how best to reintregrate insurgents in the war-torn country. (Ahmad Masood/Reuters)Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Monday plans to reintegrate insurgent fighters and negotiate with Taliban leaders will begin at a peace conference in late April.

Karzai, speaking alongside U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who arrived in Afghanstan on Monday, said the peace conference would have representation from all walks of life in the country.

"The objective will be to get guidance from the Afghan people on how to move forward towards reintegration and reconciliation — where reconciliation may be possible — and chart out an action plan in consultation with the Afghan people," he said.

Gates said he and Karzai were of "like mind" on the issue of reintegrating low- and mid-level fighters back into Afghan society.

"We believe thousands of those fighting for the Taliban do so out of economic necessity, or because their families have been intimidated," Gates said. "It is important to create the condition for them to rejoin Afghan society and rejoin the Afghan political system."

The peace conference is scheduled to begin April 29, according to Afghan Education Minister Farooq Wardak.

While Karzai and Gates focused their news conference on planning for the end of the nine-year fight with Taliban-led fighters, Gates acknowledged earlier in the day that the conflict is far from resolved.

'Very hard days ahead': Gates

"People still need to understand there is some very hard fighting, very hard days ahead," Gates told reporters, referring to an expected campaign in Kandahar province.

Gates was in Afghanistan to meet with officials and check on the progress of the expansion of the war against Taliban-led insurgents since U.S. President Barack Obama committed 30,000 more American troops to the fight.

Those additional forces are now arriving, with most expected to be in place by summer.

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates was in Afghanistan on Monday for an unannounced visit to check on the U.S. expansion of its military presence in the country. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/Associated Press)

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the head of NATO's Afghanistan campaign, was not specific about when the Kandahar offensive would begin, saying only that it would wait until more U.S. and NATO troops are ready.

About 15,000 NATO and Afghan troops fought a three-week battle to reclaim the insurgent-held town of Marjah and the district of Nad Ali, with few casualties reported.

But the long-expected assault on Kandahar province, and in particular Kandahar City, is expected to be a more ambitious and difficult fight.

Kandahar is much larger, much more complex," McChrystal told reporters.

Canadian troops to have key role

Canada's 2,800 soldiers in Kandahar are expected to be on the front lines in the operation. The U.S. has also taken the rare move of putting four of its units under the Canadian Joint Command in Kandahar.

The United States, Canada and NATO allies have been working with the Karzai government to stabilize Afghanistan since driving the Taliban from power in 2001.

Gates's visit comes as the Taliban has reportedly taken control of new sections of northeastern Afghanistan after winning an apparent turf war with a rival militant group.

Afghan officials said fierce fighting in Baghlan province between the Taliban and insurgent allies Hezb-e-Islami left at least 50 dead on both sides.

Also on Monday, the British military says a soldier has been killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan.

The British Ministry of Defence said the soldier die while on foot patrol in the Sangin area of northern Helmand province on Sunday.

The fatality brings the number of British military personnel killed in Afghanistan since 2001 to 272.

With files from The Associated Press