Pentagon chief visits Afghanistan

Robert Gates, center, U.S. Secretary of Defense, listens to a question from the media along with Admiral Timothy Keating, right, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, and General Peter Pace, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore June 3, 2007.

KABUL, Afghanistan (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Afghanistan on Sunday and said security and development were improving despite rising Taliban violence, but he was concerned about preserving those gains.

"I think actually things are slowly, cautiously headed in the right direction," Gates told reporters en route to Kabul. "I'm concerned to keep it moving that way."

Gates's second visit since taking over the Pentagon in December is to assess coordination within the U.S.-led coalition and to try to ensure Afghanistan does not spiral into the kind of bloodletting seen in Iraq.

Violence is growing in Afghanistan nearly six years after the U.S.-led invasion. Suicide bombers strike several times a week and NATO and the U.S. coalition report clashes with Taliban fighters nearly every day.

U.S. and NATO air strikes on Taliban positions have killed scores of civilians, provoking protests by Afghans and calls for Western-backed President Hamid Karzai's resignation.

U.S. officials accuse Iran of meddling. The top U.S. general, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Peter Pace, on Sunday told reporters in Singapore that Iranian-made weapons had been found inside Afghanistan.

But U.S. officials say there is progress in Afghanistan and that NATO has scored successes in the country's volatile south during a spring offensive.

Gates plans to meet Karzai and Afghan Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak as well as coalition commanders.

"One of my concerns is we have 42 countries and 12 NGOs out here and I want to find out if there's anyone really creating an overall strategy or coordinating their activities so that we can make the best possible use of the resources that are out here," Gates said.

"There's a joint monitoring board that's supposed to do that and I want to find out if that's in fact performing as we had hoped."

Gates is also likely to discuss shortfalls in the forces available to NATO and Afghan commanders.

NATO needs about 3,000 more troops, mostly for police training -- a requirement alliance member states have failed to fill for months. The European Union in May promised to send about 160 police trainers, but that remains far below what commanders and senior U.S. officials say is needed.

Gates asked his Asian counterparts at a security conference in Singapore on Saturday for more military trainers and economic and governance assistance. He said Asian states seemed willing to consider more aid but no firm commitments were announced.