THE top US military commander in Afghanistan has been effectively rebuked by President Barack Obama's man in the Pentagon for running a public campaign to back his request for more troops.

Defence Secretary Robert Gates yesterday spoke out just days after General Stanley McChrystal declared any scaling back of operations in Afghanistan, such as that favoured by some White House officials, would be short-sighted.

In a speech to the Association of the US Army, Dr Gates urged advisers to Mr Obama to keep their views on the deteriorating allied position in Afghanistan behind closed doors.

"In this process, it is imperative that all of us taking part in these deliberations - civilians and military alike - provide our best advice to the president candidly but privately," he said.

The comments by Dr Gates follow criticism from Mr Obama's national security adviser James Jones a day earlier that military leaders should provide their advice "through the chain of command".

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By PETER BAKER and ERIC SCHMITT

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s national security team is moving to reframe its war strategy by emphasizing the campaign against Al Qaeda in Pakistan while arguing that the Taliban in Afghanistan does not pose a direct threat to the United States, officials said Wednesday.

As Mr. Obama met with advisers for three hours to discuss Pakistan, the White House said he had not decided whether to approve a proposed troop buildup in Afghanistan. But the shift in thinking, outlined by senior administration officials on Wednesday, suggests that the president has been presented with an approach that would not require all of the additional troops that his commanding general in the region has requested.

It remains unclear whether everyone in Mr. Obama’s war cabinet fully accepts this view. While Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. has argued for months against increasing troops in Afghanistan because Pakistan was the greater priority, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates have both warned that the Taliban remain linked to Al Qaeda and would give its fighters havens again if the Taliban regained control of all or large parts of Afghanistan, making it a mistake to think of them as separate problems.

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The UN Security Council has voted unanimously to extend the mandate of Nato-led troops in Afghanistan for a year and urged that it be reinforced.

A resolution called on "member states to contribute personnel, equipment and other resources" to the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).

The renewal comes as the Obama administration is locked in a series of meetings on future troop deployment.

The top US commander has recommended sending an extra 40,000 troops.

However, sources close to the series of talks have suggested the administration is discussing whether it could work with "reconcilable" elements of the Taliban and concentrate on targeting al-Qaeda.

This might mean a lower number of additional troops, analysts say.

Six foreign UN employees have been killed and nine wounded in an attack in the Afghan capital, Kabul, the UN says.

Heavy gunfire and an explosion were heard at a guesthouse used by the UN, after militants entered the building.

The attack, for which the Taliban claimed responsibility, comes 10 days before the second round of presidential elections is due to be held.

Later rockets were fired at the Serena Hotel in the city, which is used by diplomats and other foreigners.

No-one has been reported injured at the hotel, but about 100 people inside at the time were taken to secure rooms as smoke filled the lobby.

Taliban warning

The attack at the guesthouse happened just before 0600 (0130 GMT), Afghan police and the UN said.

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By DEXTER FILKINS, MARK MAZZETTI and JAMES RISEN

This article is by Dexter Filkins, Mark Mazzetti and James Risen.

KABUL, Afghanistan — Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of the Afghan president and a suspected player in the country’s booming illegal opium trade, gets regular payments from the Central Intelligence Agency, and has for much of the past eight years, according to current and former American officials.

The agency pays Mr. Karzai for a variety of services, including helping to recruit an Afghan paramilitary force that operates at the C.I.A.’s direction in and around the southern city of Kandahar, Mr. Karzai’s home.

The financial ties and close working relationship between the intelligence agency and Mr. Karzai raise significant questions about America’s war strategy, which is currently under review at the White House.

The ties to Mr. Karzai have created deep divisions within the Obama administration. The critics say the ties complicate America’s increasingly tense relationship with President Hamid Karzai, who has struggled to build sustained popularity among Afghans and has long been portrayed by the Taliban as an American puppet. The C.I.A.’s practices also suggest that the United States is not doing everything in its power to stamp out the lucrative Afghan drug trade, a major source of revenue for the Taliban.

More broadly, some American officials argue that the reliance on Ahmed Wali Karzai, the most powerful figure in a large area of southern Afghanistan where the Taliban insurgency is strongest, undermines the American push to develop an effective central government that can maintain law and order and eventually allow the United States to withdraw.

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KABUL (Reuters) – Eight U.S. troops were killed in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday ahead of a run-off presidential election, the NATO-led alliance said, in the deadliest month for U.S. forces since the start of the war eight years ago.

The mounting violence comes as U.S. President Barack Obama is weighing whether to send more soldiers to Afghanistan to fight a Taliban insurgency that is at its fiercest since 2001.

The foreign ministers of Russia, China and India said the world must remain engaged in Afghanistan, with Moscow seeking a greater role for regional powers to restore stability and "counter terrorism and drug trafficking."

"The timing of the statement is significant because the Americans are now reviewing their war and it's a clear signal to the U.S. that it cannot go it alone," said Uday Bhaskar, director of the National Maritime Foundation thinktank in New Delhi.

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