By DPA
Kabul : The campaign to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan has made real progress and is "absolutely winnable," US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said during an unannounced visit to Kabul Monday.
"It is a very long undertaking," Gates added, however, at a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai after their talks. "I'm convinced that the US and our partners will be here for as long as it takes to ensure victory."
The fact that 42 countries were involved in the coalition against the insurgents showed the resolve of the international community to support the Afghan government, said Gates, who was making his second visit to the country since he became Pentagon chief in December.
He also played down earlier Taliban talk of a major spring offensive, saying it was rather the allied forces that had taken the initiative.
Karzai in turn sounded an even more optimistic note, saying the war against the Taliban had largely been won already.
"The Taliban were defeated in one and a half months when they were ruling the country," he said in reference to the swift ouster of the fundamentalist Islamic militia in late 2001 by Afghan and US-led coalition forces.
The conflict now was more a case of "eliminating terrorist cells," the president said. But his upbeat remarks belied the sharp increase in insurgent attacks in the past year and growing discontent among ordinary Afghans about high numbers of civilians dying in the course of combined operations against the Taliban.
In Afghanistan, Gates also met with Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak and US military commanders to discuss not only combat operations against the insurgents but also reconstruction projects, which are supposed to underpin the military successes in the long term.
Regarding claims that Iran is supplying weapons to the insurgents, Gates said armaments bearing Iranian production marks were appearing but that it was not clear whether they were supplied by Iranian authorities or had just filtered into the conflict zone from elsewhere.
Karzai said Afghanistan and Iran currently enjoyed the "best relationship ever" and that the US appreciated the importance of good bilateral ties between the neighbours, just as Tehran understood Kabul's need for Washington's support.
Almost 50,000 foreign troops are stationed in Afghanistan, most under NATO command, but the US has also deployed 12,000 troops engaged in separate counter-terrorism operations and training of Afghan security forces.