Rumsfeld says more US special forces are 'cocked and ready'
The US is urgently working to land hundreds more commandos in Afghanistan to intensify pressure on the Taliban, according to Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Mr Rumsfeld says the extra troops are crucial to US efforts to improve the bombing campaign by pinpointing targets and co-ordinating with opposition forces.
He mentioned no specific number but said he hoped for a three-or-fourfold increase from the current number, which is between 100 and 200.
"We have a number of teams cocked and ready to go," he told a Pentagon news conference.
"It's just a matter of having the right kind of equipment to get them there in the landing zones ... where it's possible to get in and get out, and we expect that to happen."
He said the plan includes placing US troops with a wider ring of rebel forces, in both northern and southern Afghanistan.
The United States also is supplying rebels with ammunition and arms "as fast as we can," once liaison forces make sure the supplies will be used and not sold, he said.
Mr Rumsfeld revealed that one recent attempt to land US special operations troops was called off after the helicopter-borne troops encountered ground fire, presumably from the Taliban militia.
Other landing teams have been thwarted by bad weather, Mr Rumsfeld said.
He announced he will visit countries near Afghanistan this weekend after meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Ivanov, in Moscow on Saturday.
