71.   For weeks, warplanes have pounded Kandahar to soften Taliban defenses and support land advances by opposition Afghan forces.

72.   He said a further decrease could be expected this month because Afghan forces have resumed guarding the border and stepped up measures to prevent trafficking.

73.   He said pro-U.S. Afghan forces in the bed of the truck opened fire on the two perpetrators, killing both of them.

74.   He said U.S. and Afghan forces were investigating.

75.   He said the hope was that local Afghan forces could restore peace and order.

76.   He is believed to have fled as pro-U.S. Afghan forces closed in.

77.   He stressed, however, that Afghan forces must be the ones to move against the Taliban.

78.   However, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said he did not envision a U.S. role in the Afghan peacekeeping force.

79.   In his earlier remarks, Rumsfeld said high-level Taliban leaders have been captured by opposition Afghan forces and American officials are planning to interrogate them.

80.   Instead of relying on Afghan forces to take the fight to the al-Qaida, with U.S. troops in support, the Americans took the lead.