Despite a rise in insurgent violence this spring, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday he is convinced American and NATO forces are making steady progress against the Taliban.

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

He spoke during a flight to the Afghan capital from Singapore, where he attended a security conference. The Pentagon chief had urged Asian nations to provide more troops or other forms of support for Afghanistan.

For months, Gates has expressed concern about possible reversals in Afghanistan, which still lacks a self-sustaining military and suffers from the unmet expectations of building an effective central government.

On Saturday, suspected militants ambushed a NATO convoy in eastern Afghanistan, killing two members of the alliance and wounding seven troops, while 15 suspected militants were killed by police, officials said.

But yesterday, Gates appeared optimistic about maintaining momentum against the Taliban and overcoming the economic and political obstacles that have bedeviled Afghanistan for decades.

This was Gates's second visit to Afghanistan since taking over at the Defense Department last December.

During his first trip in January, he worried about Taliban incursions from havens inside neighboring Pakistan and said it appeared the Taliban were gearing up for a spring offensive.

Since then, levels of violence in Afghanistan have risen but the Taliban offensive has gained little of a foothold.

A senior defense official traveling with Gates told reporters it was believed the Taliban had intended to target Kandahar, the southern city that was a stronghold before U.S. forces invaded in October 2001, and to try to isolate certain portions of the main Afghan highway known as the ring road.

The official discussed U.S. analysis of recent trends in the conflict on condition he not be named.

Gates did not rule out that the Taliban could intensify their attacks this summer.

Other officials have asserted that the radical Islamic movement is beginning to gain assistance from neighboring Iran, including weapons such as the new, more sophisticated roadside bomb known as an explosively formed projectile, or EFP.

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By ROBERT BURNS

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