US Def Sec on Afghan progress against Taliban

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin sounded a cautious note Saturday when asked about the chances of Afghan government forces containing the Taliban surge.

Speaking at an air force base in Alaska, he said: "We look forward to them making progress ... but we'll see what happens."

The Taliban have swiftly captured territory in recent weeks, seized strategic border crossings and are threatening a number of provincial capitals - advances that come as the last U.S. and NATO soldiers prepare to leave Afghanistan.

Austin, who's visiting Alaska ahead of a trip to the Indo-Pacific region, said the Afghan government was "committed" to reversing the Taliban advance.

"In terms of whether or not it will stop the Taliban, I think the first thing to do is to make sure that they can slow the momentum and then be able to put themselves in a position where they can retake... some of the ground that they've lost," he told reporters.

"They have the capabilities, they have the capacity to make progress," he said.

The US-NATO withdrawal is more than 95% complete and due to be finished by August 31.