(Adds details) By Kristin Roberts and Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - A Taliban suicide bomber rammed a car into a NATO convoy near Kabul airport on Tuesday, during a visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates to assess rising violence in Afghanistan. No casualties were reported among NATO troops in the morning rush hour blast on a road just outside the city's international airport, an alliance spokesman said. NATO said the attack, which occurred as Gates was meeting NATO commanders less than 5 miles (8 km) away, wounded 22 Afghan civilians. A Taliban spokesman said the militant Islamic group carried out the attack to "welcome" Gates, who arrived in Kabul the previous evening. The spokesman for NATO, which runs a force separate to the U.S. military in Afghanistan, said one of its vehicles was damaged in the blast. Tuesday's blast reflected rising violence over the past two years in Afghanistan, the bloodiest period since the Taliban's removal from power in 2001. Afghanistan's army chief, General Bismillah Khan, asked Gates for more security trainers and equipment to fight the Taliban. "The biggest problem is we don't have enough mentors, enough advisers," Khan told Gates after they toured the Kabul Military Training Centre. "I need your prompt attention on this matter." "The U.S. government has been more than generous but our weapons are not adequate," he told the Pentagon chief. Khan asked for small arms, mortars and armoured vehicles. SALESMAN FOR AFGHANISTAN Gates said the Pentagon was looking for ways to expedite delivery of weapons and supplies to Afghanistan. But he stressed that other NATO partners in Afghanistan must dedicate more resources to the war effort. He has repeatedly called on Europe to send more trainers, combat troops and equipment to Afghanistan and has argued that any progress made in the war could be lost if NATO cannot muster the resources that commanders say they need. "I feel like I am the salesman around the world for Afghanistan," he said, noting he had asked China and Japan for help in the war during recent visits to those countries. A poll for three Western television networks showed that only 42 percent of Afghans rated U.S. efforts positively, down from 57 percent last year and 68 percent in 2005. The poll for ABC News of the United States, Britain's BBC and Germany's ARD also found that support for Taliban fighters is rising. In the troubled southwest, 23 percent said people there support the Taliban, triple last's year level. The United States has 26,000 troops in Afghanistan. About half are involved in NATO operations and half on other missions. More than six years after a U.S.-led invasion drove the Taliban from power, Gates said security had improved in some areas but gains throughout the country were "uneven." "Too many Afghans still live in fear of terrorists and live beyond the reach of the government," he said. Attacks have risen 30 percent in some areas and suicide bombings are up from a year ago in Afghanistan, a war often overshadowed in the United States by combat in Iraq. The Pentagon is also worried about signs that al Qaeda is resurfacing in Afghanistan after losing ground in parts of Iraq. U.S. Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez on Tuesday linked the increase in suicide bombings to al Qaeda in Afghanistan. "We believe that it's the violent extremists that are behind that, led of course by al Qaeda associates increasing that tactic on the battlefield as they transfer that tactic from Iraq," Rodriguez said. (Writing by Bill Tarrant; Editing by Giles Elgood)
