BAGRAM AIR BASE, Nov 29: Extremists still pose a major threat in almost one third of Afghanistan but the war against them continues despite an imminent focus shift to reconstruction, top US General Tommy Franks said Friday.

Franks, the commander in chief of the US central command, said the war on terror was on track although talks were under way at the Pentagon about diverting coalition military resources away from tackling terrorists.

“I think my boss (Defence) Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is working with the president (George W. Bush) to decide what the timing of a transition on Afghanistan should look like,” he told reporters.

Franks’ comments came during a flying visit to Bagram, a sprawling US-dominated airbase 50 kilometres north of Kabul, where he gave a Thanksgiving address to a handful of US troops stationed as part of the year-old coalition pursuit of Taliban remnants and their Al Qaeda associates.

“While things seem to be okay for Afghanistan in three-fourths of the country, we still have 20-30 per cent of the country where we see a lot of problems,” he said.

“We’re talking a matter of emphasis not a matter of geography and what we want to be sure (of is) that we have the ability to work with the international community on issues of reconstruction.”

Franks said the departure next month of 150 Australian special air services troops would not diminish military operations in the country.

“On any given day we will have between seven and 10 nations here in Afghanistan with special operation forces. The Aussies, God bless ‘em, have been here since very early, and it’s time for them to get a break.”

In his earlier address to troops, Franks told jokes, sang a brief song and thanked US soldiers for fighting in the “backside of the world,” before introducing a small troupe of entertainers.

Just hours before his arrival as part of a tour including Kuwait, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, a US special forces soldier was airlifted to Bagram after he was shot in the southeastern province of Paktia during an ambush of the convoy in which he was travelling.

US military spokesman Colonel Roger King said the soldier was shot in the leg in the incident late Wednesday as the four-vehicle convoy moved between the cities of Gardez and Khost.

King said special forces were able to “suppress the enemy fire” and make their escape. He said it was not clear who carried out the attack.

In a separate incident, US troops stationed in southeastern Afghanistan came under fire in the latest of a series of assaults the US military says marks an increase in attacks on their outposts.—AFP