Shannon, Ireland ? American and allied forces in Afghanistan are capturing al-Qaida and Taliban fighters “almost every day, in small numbers,” Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday.

The comment indicated that U.S. soldiers are having more regular contact with enemy forces than American officials had suggested in recent weeks. Rumsfeld was not specific about the location of the encounters and did not say whether any senior al-Qaida figures had been killed or captured recently.

He said U.S. and allied troops are finding “pockets” rather than concentrations of al-Qaida fighters.

Speaking with reporters aboard his plane on the way to Central Asia, Rumsfeld declined to comment on news reports that U.S. commanders have expanded the war into neighboring Pakistan by sending small groups of U.S. combat troops on clandestine reconnaissance and attack missions.

“We do not characterize what other countries are doing or what we are doing in other countries,” he said. “Pakistan has, from the outset, been enormously helpful and cooperative in the global war on terror.”

He did acknowledge that “agencies of the United States government” other than the Defense Department were involved in the apprehension last month in Pakistan of Abu Zubaydah, the senior lieutenant to Osama bin Laden who is being interrogated at an undisclosed location.

Rumsfeld’s plane stopped in Shannon to refuel.

In the interview, Rumsfeld said he had met Wednesday evening with Vice President Dick Cheney and Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. He said he heard nothing to suggest the Saudi government was growing uncomfortable with the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia. That presence is one of the main focuses of bin Laden’s campaign of terror against America.

Rumsfeld said he looked forward to greeting U.S. and allied troops in Afghanistan this weekend as well as meeting with coalition commanders and Afghan officials. He said the main focus of his trip would be security issues in Afghanistan. The last time he was in the country, last December, the Taliban militia had just been defeated and the interim government headed by Hamid Karzai had not been installed.

There are nearly 7,000 American troops in Afghanistan.