Gates and Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff also said Pakistan needed to do more to stop the unimpeded flow of Taliban and other fighters into Afghanistan from safe havens in Pakistan.

"There is a real need to do something on the Pakistani side of the border to bring pressure to bear on the Taliban and some of these other violent groups," Gates said.

The US defense chief denied as "untrue" a report that US forces were massing on the border to go into Pakistan. But he did not rule out unilateral military action across the border.

The growing threat was cited by US commanders in Afghanistan in their requests for more troops, as well as a doubling of the number of mine resistant, armor protected vehicles (MRAPS) they now have to protect troops from roadside explosions.

Alarm over the deteriorating security was punctuated Sunday by the death of nine US soldiers in an insurgent attack on a combat outpost, the deadliest on US forces since 2005.

"I think we are clearly working very hard to see if there are opportunities to send additional forces sooner rather than later," Gates said, adding that no decisions have been taken yet.

"It's a tougher fight; it's a more complex fight; and (commanders) need more troops to have the long-term impact that we all want to have there," Mullen said.

Mullen, who just returned from visits to Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, said he expected to be able to recommend further US troop cuts this year in Iraq if security conditions continue to improve.

In the past, the admiral has tied any significant increase in US forces in Afghanistan to deeper troop cuts in Iraq.

Currently there are 36,000 US troops in Afghanistan and 150,000 in Iraq.

"Security is unquestionably and remarkably better" in Iraq, Mullen said.

But he portrayed the situation in Afghanistan in more urgent terms.

"One need look no further than the well-coordinated attack on Wanat outpost this weekend to see that the enemy has grown bolder, more sophisticated and diverse," Mullen said.

"The bottom line is this: we are seeing a greater number of insurgents and foreign fighters flowing across the border with Pakistan unmolested and unhindered. This movement needs to stop," he said.

Mullen said the group that launched the attack trained in safe havens in Pakistan.

"We see this threat accelerating, almost becoming a syndicate of different groups who heretofore had not worked closely together," he said.

Mullen added: "It's very clear that additional troops will have a big impact on insurgents coming across that border.

"It would be much better if there was that pressure on the Pakistani side. But clearly additional troops there would have a significant impact," he said.

Mullen said that in his meetings with Pakistani leaders he emphasized the need to do more to control their border. But he would not comment on their response.

Pakistan's new civilian government pulled army troops out of its Federally Administered Tribal Areas on the Afghan border in March after in a move that has lifted the pressure on militant groups in Pakistan.

Gates, who said attacks inside Pakistan have doubled in the past year, said the country's new civilian government should understand that the militants pose a growing danger to it as well.

related report
US commander wants more armored vehicles in Afghanistan
A senior US commander has asked for hundreds more mine-resistant armored vehicles to equip US troops in Afghanistan, a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday.

The request comes amid growing concern over intensifying insurgent violence in Afghanistan, where nine US troops were killed Monday when their combat outpost was overrun, the deadliest attack on US forces since 2005.

Major General Jeffrey Schloesser, the commander of the 101st Airborne Division, made the request for Mine Resistant Armor Protected (MRAP) vehicles to Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary.

Morrell said that Schloesser's request is on top of what would be needed to equip any increase in US forces.

"As I recall, he requires double the number he has now," he added.

Pentagon officials said there are currently 800 of the wheeled armored vehicles in Afghanistan.

Their high chassis and V-shaped hulls have proved far more effective in blunting roadside explosions than other armored vehicles.

US commanders in Afghanistan also have been pressing for three more US combat brigades, or about 10,000 troops, but Morrell said that requirement was unlikely to be filled this year.

"We're coming up on the end of the fighting season so that probably is not something that can happen until the next fighting season," he told reporters.

As of Monday, there were 36,000 US troops in Afghanistan, a country larger in area and population than Iraq, where there are currently 150,000 US troops.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said he expects a significant increase in the size of the US force in Afghanistan next year, but military leaders have linked it to a drawdown in US forces in Iraq.

Still, Morrell said Mullen "has made it very clear to commanders that they should not be bashful about speaking up if they need more forces than they currently have."

"They have done so and they are doing their best to figure out what the ... ability is to accomodate," he said.

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