COMBAT OUTPOST SENJERAY, Afghanistan — U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Friday he saw and heard evidence that the U.S. counterinsurgency strategy is taking hold in Afghanistan's critical Kandahar province.

Gates toured U.S. bases and met with troops in the thick of the fighting in Kandahar city and the Taliban haven of Zhari district, west of the city.

Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, is Afghanistan's second-largest city and a linchpin of the retailored battle plan President Barack Obama announced last year. Even as the U.S. nears the full complement of the troop surge ordered last year by Obama, the region remains a battleground, still far from under full control of the U.S.-backed central government in Kabul.

Military commanders know the nearly nine-year war cannot be won without a turnaround in Kandahar, yet goals and plans for the fight there have been vague. The Taliban are waging a fear and intimidation campaign to keep local Afghans from siding with international forces and the Afghan government.

Gates wanted a firsthand look at operations in the dangerous south where Afghan and international troops are ramping up security. The Obama administration plans a top-to-bottom assessment of the war in December. The review will question whether Obama's strategy is working.

"I come away from my visits down here today encouraged," Gates told reporters travelling with him. He said that signs of progress were incremental but growing.

Still, he added, "Everybody knows this is far from a done deal."

The bulked-up force is aimed at blunting Taliban momentum on their home ground and setting the stage for a gradual U.S. exit from the war beginning next summer.

Gates spoke with several dozen U.S. service members in a courtyard ringed with heavily armoured all-terrain vehicles designed to help them survive the homemade bombs that are the biggest death threat to coalition troops.

"You guys are in the forward foxhole and what makes a difference in the whole campaign is your success here in Kandahar city," Gates told U.S. troops at Camp Nathan Smith, headquarters for U.S. operations in the largest city in southern Afghanistan.

The troops are part of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, which arrived Aug. 18 and has already lost eight soldiers -- seven last Monday alone.

"Unfortunately, there are going to be more tough days ahead," Gates said. "You know that better than anybody."

One soldier asked Gates why the U.S. doesn't go after insurgents hiding in neighbouring Pakistan. The United States is pressing Islamabad to expand its pursuit of insurgents farther into North Waziristan, a border area next to Afghanistan often described as lawless.

"I think the likelihood of direct U.S. military engagement in Pakistan is very low," Gates said.

For the past 18 months, Pakistan has realized the importance of fighting insurgents on its soil and has effectively squeezed militant groups -- in some cases, concentrating them in North Waziristan. U.S. officials are looking for assurances that Pakistan will not end its efforts there because of the demands created by this year's historic floods.

"Everyone understands that the sanctuaries on the other side of the border are a big problem" and the joint U.S.-Pakistan objective is to expunge those hide-outs, Gates said. But he noted that recent flooding in Pakistan would delay the government's strike at militants there.

From Camp Nathan Smith, Gates travelled west of Kandahar to violent Zhari district, which Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez calls "one of the critical districts" outside the city.

Speaking to reporters, Rodriguez predicted that U.S. and Afghan forces will be able to show some progress in Kandahar province in time for the end-of-year evaluation of the war by the Obama administration.

Rodriguez said the progress would be piecemeal and gradual, predicting Afghans would feel less intimidation from insurgents and local governing councils would be less dominated by local powerbrokers.