Taliban is harder to defeat than ever before: Top US officer

A top US military officer said the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan is harder to defeat now than it was a year ago, and said he will take up concerns about strengthening ties to al Qaeda with government leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, was touring US bases in eastern Afghanistan today. He will also be in Pakistan this week.

"I remain deeply concerned by the growing level of collusion between the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda and other extremist groups taking refuge across the border in Pakistan," Mullen said at the start of his visit on Monday.

"Getting at this network, which is now more entrenched, will be a far more difficult task than it was just one year ago," Mullen said in the Afghan capital.

"As part of this trip, I intend to discuss with Afghan and Pakistani leaders the extent to which we all can better cooperate and coordinate our activities to eliminate the safe havens from which these groups plan and operate."

He said he was headed to Islamabad and will have another meeting, his 14th, with General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani as well as other top Pakistani officials.

Painting a grim picture, Mullen said Afghan insurgents were dominant in one-third of Afghanistan's 34 provinces and "the insurgency has grown more violent, more pervasive and more sophisticated."