Pakistan troops moved back to Afghan border

A Pakistan army officer at a post at the remote Teerah Vally in Khayber Agency near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Pakistan has moved troops back to its border with Afghanistan to help U.S. forces cut off remnants of al Qaeda and the Taliban, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says.

Rumsfeld went to South Asia in a bid to ease the military standoff between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan. The confrontation had prompted Pakistan to move troops from its northwest frontier to reinforce the Indian border last month. (Pakistan-India latest)

The defense secretary would not explicitly connect the Pakistani move with any changes in the Indian-Pakistani standoff, "But obviously, they had a choice," he said.

"They could have put those forces on the Indian border or they could have put them on the Afghan border. And to our advantage, they have put them along the Afghan border," he said.

Pakistan has been a key ally in the U.S.-led antiterrorist campaign in Afghanistan, cutting diplomatic relations with the Taliban government and allowing coalition forces to use Pakistani bases and airspace last year's air campaign.

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In addition, U.S. and Pakistani forces have cooperated in the search for al Qaeda fugitives inside Pakistan.

But recent attacks on Western targets in Pakistan -- including Friday's bombing outside the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, which killed 11 Pakistanis -- have led analysts to suggest that al Qaeda is trying to regroup. (Karachi bombing latest.)

Rumsfeld downplayed those concerns, but said the group has had to shift tactics because of the damage inflicted by the campaign in Afghanistan.

"They've got less money. They've got fewer training camps, and probably none in Afghanistan, and fewer in the world. There's no question but that their lines of control and communication have been disrupted," he said.

U.S. embassies and military installations overseas are now better protected, Rumsfeld said, but he warned that the organization still could strike at Americans.

"That's what terrorists do," he said. "They move across a spectrum, looking for ways to achieve their goal. And their goal is to kill innocent men, women and children. And there are lots of ways to do that."