Rumsfeld: 'Close doesn't count' in bin Laden hunt
Defense chief notes Pakistan's renewed moves against al Qaeda
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Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visits Thursday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul.
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U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visits Afghanistan as forces gear up for a spring offensive to hunt for Osama bin Laden.
CIA Director George Tenet and FBI Director Robert Mueller tell a congressional panel that al Qaeda remains a threat.
A new U.S. push to find bin Laden is under way in the Afghan border region
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KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's military has stepped up its hunt for Taliban and al Qaeda operatives -- including Osama bin Laden -- near the Afghan border, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday after arriving in Afghanistan.
However, Rumsfeld said the forces tracking bin Laden were no "closer or farther at any given moment" from capturing the al Qaeda leader.
"Close doesn't count," he said at a news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. "I suspect that we'll find that it is accomplished at some point in the future, and I wouldn't have any idea when."
U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan reportedly are planning a spring offensive against the Taliban and al Qaeda fighters remaining in Afghanistan.
Earlier Thursday, Rumsfeld visited reconstruction teams in the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar before heading to the capital, Kabul, where he met with Karzai.
The defense secretary praised Afghanistan's progress since U.S. forces ousted the Taliban regime in 2001.
"This country has gone in a short period from a haven for terrorists to a coalition ally in the war against terrorism," Rumsfeld said. "Freedom is clearly taking root in this country, and Afghanistan is on a path to become a model for freedom and moderation in the Muslim world."
In recent days, the defense secretary has spoken on the record about Pakistan's military operations in its border areas, which could be an indication of improved U.S. intelligence on al Qaeda movements.
On Tuesday, Pakistani government sources said their forces launched a military operation based on new intelligence, arresting at least 25 people. (Full story)
Government sources had said earlier that the Pakistani army was ready to conduct a major campaign against al Qaeda and Taliban forces in the Wana area, where bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar are believed to be hiding.
Five aid workers killed in attack
On the eve of Rumsfeld's arrival, five aid workers in Afghanistan were shot dead near Kabul late Wednesday, the United Nations said.
U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said unknown assailants fired on the workers in a village about 15 miles (25 kilometers) north of the capital.
The U.N. mission in Afghanistan called the attack "absolutely unacceptable."
Also Wednesday, a U.S. soldier was killed and another injured in a single-vehicle accident along a main road, U.S. Central Command said. The accident is under investigation.
CNN's Barbara Starr in Kabul contributed to this report.
