Rumsfeld praises Afghan 'progress'
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Rumsfeld's trip is aimed at demonstrating support for Karzai's efforts to "stabilise the north."
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MAZAR-e-SHARIF, Afghanistan (CNN) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld praised Afghanistan for having made "remarkable progress" in the two years since the overthrow of the Taliban during a trip to the country.
Rumsfeld is discussing security and reconstruction with Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai during his one-day visit.
Karzai's government is making progress in helping the fight against the ousted Taliban and in trying to disarm warlords in the northern part of the country, Rumsfeld said, paving the way for elections to be held next year.
Rumsfeld referred to Washington's attempts to secure increased help from NATO in northern parts of Afghanistan.
The defense secretary said NATO, which is already serving in Afghanistan in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), would work outside Kabul, if agreed.
"It is simply a thought that NATO is discussing," he told reporters in a joint press conference with Karzai Thursday.
America has about 11,500 of its troops in Afghanistan.
But Rumsfeld was also discussing the continuing threat of the Taliban and Islamist militants especially in the southeast of the country and the growing narcotics trade.
Violence continues to cause problems for the Afghan regime, with frequent attacks occurring. More than 400 people have been killed since August including Afghan and foreign aid workers, U.S. and Afghan soldiers, officials and police, and many rebels.
On the day of Rumsfeld's visit, at least one Afghan working in a U.N.-sponsored census program was killed and 11 wounded in an ambush by suspected Taliban members in western Afghanistan.
Afghans also continue to be victims of warlord fighting. Clashes between ethnic Uzbeck General Abdul Rashid Dostum and his main rival Ustad Atta Mohammad left dozens of civilians dead in October.
Rumsfeld met the two leaders saying he was "pleased" an initiative to disarm had begun.
"...We'll be attentive and encouraging as we go along to see it toward completion," he added.
Rumsfeld, who last visited Afghanistan in May, also went to the north of the country Thursday, traveling to the headquarters of the British provincial reconstruction team to meet with Colonel Dickie Davis.
Karzai welcomed the $2 billion in U.S. assistance to his country, and countered suggestions that his government only controlled the capital city of Kabul.
"I would presume that we have now reached 40 to 50 percent of the administrative capability that a normal government in a country like ours should have," he said.
He added that the battle against armed groups vying for control in parts of the country "is being tackled more aggressively."
"We are in a much better situation today than we were six months ago, than we were a year ago or before that," Karzai said. "I am sure six months from now, a year from now, Afghanistan will be better served by the government, better administered by the country and more secure."
He said security issues would not delay elections planned for next June.
