Rumsfeld visits US troops in Afghanistan

Rumsfeld, who visited more-troubled Iraq Tuesday, was told by an American officer at a Provincial Reconstruction Team site in southeastern Afghanistan that Taliban supporters were finding sanctuary in some parts of the region but things were improving.

"In some regions, they (Afghan people) are able to be intimidated ... but things are getting better," said US Army Col. Dick Pederson, commander of the 3rd Brigade of the US 5th Infantry Division.

Rumsfeld was due to meet President Hamid Karzai in Kabul to discuss issues including September parliamentary polls before heading later in the day to Pakistan for talks with President Pervez Musharraf, another key ally in the US-led war on terrorism.