Anders Fogh Rasmussen, making his first visit to Afghanistan as head of the 28-nation alliance, told a news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai that he was ready for "pragmatic steps" to improve security.

If this took "talks with a number of groups within the Afghan society, I'm ready to do that", the new secretary general told reporters amid new international focus on negotiations as insurgent attacks reach record levels.

"I think it is a prerequisite that the Afghan government can conduct the talks and negotiations from a position of strength. There is no alternative whatsoever to continued and strengthened military efforts," he added.

Another condition should be that groups that join any talks "put down their weapons and abide by the laws in this country".

Rasmussen said he had chosen Afghanistan for his first official visit since taking office on Monday because the country was a priority for the NATO alliance.

His trip came as the Pentagon announced a strategy review by the commander of international forces in Afghanistan, US General Stanley McChrystal, had been delayed and would not include a formal request for more troops.

Afghan authorities announced troops were battling on multiple fronts to secure flashpoints before the August 20 vote and unveiled stringent plans to ban traffic and mobilise troops to safeguard polling day.

Karzai, standing for re-election, has for years pushed for talks with insurgents who agree to the democratic constitution drawn up after the hardline Taliban regime was driven out in a US-led invasion in late 2001.

He reiterated alongside Rasmussen that such peace efforts, for which he has been trying enlist the support of Saudi King Abdullah as a negotiator, would be his priority should he win a second term.

Former Danish prime minister Rasmussen, who is due to meet McChrystal in Afghanistan, said NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) would do its best to help protect the polls against attacks.

He pointed out that ISAF had "significantly" increased its troop numbers and would focus more on training the young Afghan security forces to take on a larger role in the battle.

However, "We have to realise that there is no military solution solely to the situation in Afghanistan," he said.

With campaigning for the presidential and provincial council elections in full swing, NATO forces are pressing operations to secure Taliban strongholds in a last bid to allow voting to take place in restive areas.

The extremists, who ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, have managed to orchestrate an insurgency now at a record level of attacks, straining the efforts of US and NATO-led forces that have grown to more than 100,000.

Highlighting the problems, a roadside bomb ripped through a civilian vehicle in the eastern province of Nangarhar on Wednesday, killing six men en route to a meeting with local government authorities, an official said.

There was no claim of responsibility but the blast was similar to hundreds blamed on Taliban fighters.

There are concerns insurgent violence will overshadow the elections, deter Afghans from going out to vote and undermine the credibility of a poll that is a test of an internationally funded drive to install democracy.

Afghan, NATO and US-led troops are pursuing operations in seven areas, most of them in the southern Taliban hotbeds Kandahar and Helmand, but also in the northern province of Kunduz, the Afghan defence ministry spokesman said.

To safeguard against attack as the nation votes for a new president and provincial councillors, the government will ban all traffic and heavily restrict movement on polling day, added General Mohammad Zahir Azimi.

The announcement came a week after the Taliban urged people to boycott the vote and threatened to block roads to voting stations, fanning fears of unrest.

earlier related report
US general's report on Afghan war delayed: Pentagon
A strategy review by the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan has been delayed and will not include a formal request for more troops, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

The announcement came amid mounting speculation the commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, is preparing the ground to request more US boots on the ground.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates initially had asked the new commander to submit an assessment of the war effort within 60 days of taking over the helm in June.

But after an unannounced meeting with the commander over the weekend in Belgium, Gates has given the general until early September instead of mid-August to complete his assessment, his press secretary, Geoff Morrell said.

The commander's report also will not include a specific appeal for more troops in Afghanistan, Morrell said.

"The assessment will focus on the situation on the ground and the way ahead but will not offer specific resource requests or recommendations," Morrell said.

Any formal request for more troops would be issued separately, through customary channels under the "chain of command," he said.

The Pentagon, however, had said previously the assessment would look at resources and manpower for the war effort.

McChrystal, whose predecessor was sacked by Gates in May, is under pressure to deliver results in Afghanistan, where a NAT0-led force faces rising casualties in its fight against Islamist insurgents.

His report has attracted attention after some of the civilian experts helping him prepare the assessment called for a major increase in troops and funds for the war.

McChrystal has yet to declare if he believes more US troops are needed though he is expected to call for recruiting and training a larger Afghan security force.

Expanding the number of US troops is a politically-sensitive proposition, both in Kabul and Washington, where members of President Barack Obama's party remain skeptical of the Afghan mission.

Obama has already ordered an additional 21,000 troops to Afghanistan since taking office, with the US force soon to reach 68,000.

Morrell repeated the defense secretary's concerns about allowing for too large a US military presence in Afghanistan, "for fear that we could be viewed not as liberators or allies, but as occupiers."

Gates also did not want to impose an "arbitrary" limit on the number of troops for Afghanistan, Morrell said.

"It's a fine line, and it's one that, if additional resources become an issue, that they will work through together," he said.

In his meeting Sunday at an air base in Chievres, Belgium Gates asked McChrystal "to address some additional issues in this review of the situation on the ground," said Morrell.

"In light of that, the secretary has told General McChrystal to take beyond the 60 days if needed, so he anticipates getting this final product in late August, early September at this point."

Morrell could not say what new issues Gates wanted his commander to address.

In a phone call to the new NATO secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the US defense secretary informed him about the delay in McChrystal's assessment, he said.

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