"We're getting very good intelligence from operations in Iraq on the al-Qaeda and it's been very helpful in understanding the network and tracking down some of the leadership," Myers told reporters at a press conference at Bagram Air Base, 50 kilometres (31 miles) north of Kabul.

"The one thing we knew going into the war in Iraq is that the group Ansar al-Islam was operating in northeastern Iraq, it has ties to al-Qaeda ... that group is still active in Iraq. So those are known ties (between Iraq and al-Qaeda)," he said.

Myers denied that the war in Iraq had diverted resources from the fight against al-Qaeda and terrorism.

"I don't think the war in Iraq has taken any of the resources away from the fight against international terrorism, specifically al-Qaeda. In fact I think the effort in Iraq has been very complementary.

"What we're doing in Afghanistan and what we're doing in Iraq is in many cases the same thing: we're denying terrorists sanctuary where they can operate and train and we're denying terrorists getting their hands on weapons of mass destruction," he said.

"This is all about the war on terrorism and I think people should be assured that there has not been any lessening of our ability to go after the al-Qaeda because of operations in Iraq, in fact just the opposite."

Myers was visiting Afghanistan as his fifth stop on a trip to the Middle East and Asia which has taken him to India and Pakistan.

He was due to have talks later Wednesday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Defence Minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim on efforts to start the long-awaited process to disarm, demobilise and reintegrate some 100,000 militiamen.

"We'll discuss what's been achieved and more importantly what's yet to come because there are many challenges," he said.

"I don't have any particular message (for Fahim), I'm here to learn as much as deliver messages but certainly we will stress what we think's important."

Disarming militiamen and rebuilding the national army are seen as key to establishing security throughout the war-ravaged country.

Myers said the US-led military coalition, which currently numbers around 12,500 troops, would remain until the Afghan government was able to deliver "security and hope for a better economic future" to the people of Afghanistan.

"Be assured that the coalition is here until the job is done," he said.

Myers said the coalition had already had a "significant impact" on the central Asian country.

"Through the efforts of Combined Joint Task Force 180 (the coalition), the stability of Afghanistan grows daily. This stability enables the people of Afghanistan to raise their families in security and to prosper more than they have in the past," he said.

"The Taliban government is gone, hundreds of al-Qaeda have either been killed or captured. The sanctuary that al-Qaeda enjoyed, the Taliban enjoyed is no longer," he said.

"Security and stability are increasing and today we're helping the Afghan people help themselves through civil-military operations and provincial reconstruction teams," the general said.

Myers said he would later Wednesday visit a provincial reconstruction team in the southeast city of Gardez, 100 kilometres (62 miles) south of Kabul.

PRTs are a US-led civil-military programme intended to help with reconstruction work and security to extend the reach of Karzai's government beyond the Afghan capital to the provinces where security remains a problem.

The US-led operation to topple the Taliban regime was launched after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks masterminded by al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who was harboured by the hardline Afghan militia.

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