Rumsfeld thinks bin Laden is still in Afghanistan

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld thinks Osama bin Laden is still in Afghanistan.

He told reporters he "doubts" bin Laden has escaped on a donkey, mule or in a helicopter.

He says there's no reason to believe he is in Pakistan but "there is every reason to believe he's in Afghanistan".

"I think it's chasing the wrong rabbit to assume that he's fled," he says.

Speaking from the Great Lakes Naval Centre in Illinois, he said US forces have destroyed most of the Taliban's air transport and the country's airports.

But he says the Taliban may have hidden some of their helicopters.

He says US forces will continue to look for bin Laden but refused to answer if they could pursue him across the border into Pakistan.

Mr Rumsfeld wouldn't confirm reports that bin Laden's top adviser Mohammed Atef has been killed by a US airstrike.

He also played down reports of US casualties in the conflict saying only two people have died. He says they were in a helicopter that crashed in Pakistan.

The victims were heading to extract special forces troops on the ground in Afghanistan who had received minor injuries carrying out a special operation, he says.