Rumsfeld defends bombing campaign

India is pressing the US over arms curbs

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said the effectiveness of the American bombing campaign in Afghanistan has improved vastly.

Speaking after a meeting with his Indian counterpart George Fernandes in Delhi, Mr Rumsfeld said he thought there had probably never been a bombing campaign so focused and precise.

We now have some larger numbers of teams of people on the ground that are assisting with re-supply and humanitarian assistance

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld

Mr Rumsfeld has now left India at the end of a five-nation tour that took him to Russia and Pakistan to shore up support for the US campaign against the Taleban.

The military campaign continued on Monday, with explosions heard before dawn in the Afghan capital Kabul.

According to local reports, helicopter gunships attacked the Baghi Bala Hotel - a Taleban base - killing a number of Taleban fighters.

The BBC's Ian Pannell has meanwhile reported seeing three powerful bombs explode on Taleban positions north of the capital, followed by a cluster of five smaller explosions just before midday local time.

Sunday saw heavy bombing in the far northeast of the country, near the border with Tajikistan.

US campaign

Mr Rumsfeld told a news conference in the Indian capital Delhi that the bombing campaign had improved because people on the ground were now in communication with aircraft flying overhead.

"We now have some larger number of teams of people on the ground that are assisting with re-supply and humanitarian assistance as well as targeting, and the effectiveness of the bombing is improving every day," he said.

Rumsfeld played down fears over Pakistan's nuclear arms

Mr Rumsfeld dismissed concerns that the nuclear warheads of Pakistan or other states could fall into the hands of Islamic militants.

"I think those countries are careful and respectful of the dangers that they pose and manage their safe handling effectively," he said.

He also invited the Indian Defence Minister, George Fernandes, to visit the United States.

India is urging the US to lift its ban on the export of advanced weaponry to the country.

Mr Fernandes said the ban should be lifted now that India and the United States were developing a new strategic partnership.

But Mr Rumsfeld merely said the issue would be discussed between the US State Department and the Indian Foreign Ministry.

President Bush has already lifted some of the sanctions imposed on India and Pakistan after the two countries carried out nuclear weapons tests in 1998.

Concerns over Pakistan

India is wary of the growing ties between Washington and Islamabad following Pakistan's support for the US-led campaign against Afghanistan.

India wants action against Kashmiri militants

Delhi wants its concerns over what it alleges is Pakistan's support for militants fighting in Indian-administered Kashmir to be taken on board.

The United States has partially responded by placing some Pakistan-based militant organisations on its list of terrorist groups and has frozen their finances.

But Washington is also concerned over the increasing tension between Indian and Pakistan over Kashmir and has been urging the two sides to meet.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is due to visit the US this week and it is thought that American pressure could help to force the two sides to talk, possibly even at the UN General Assembly.

The US defense secretary arrived in Delhi from Pakistan where he rejected a call to stop bombing Afghanistan during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Pakistani President General Musharraf has called for a pause in the air strikes during Ramadan, which begins in mid-November.