The shift by the USS Abraham Lincoln over the weekend comes amid stepped up insurgent violence in Afghanistan where US combat casualties have been on the rise even as they have dropped sharply in Iraq.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the move was ordered by the acting chief of the US Central Command, General Martin Dempsey.

"I think he felt that providing some additional combat support in Afghanistan was something he could do without any cost to the mission in Iraq," Gates told reporters during a visit to Fort Lewis, Washington.

Gates denied that it signalled an escalation of the US military effort in Afghanistan, but acknowledged that the violence there has grown in intensity.

"And I think it's just part of our commitment to ensure that we have the resources available to be successful in Afghanistan over the long haul," he said.

Last week, the Pentagon announced it would extend what was supposed to have been a seven month deployment of some 2,200 marines who are fighting with NATO forces in southern Afghanistan.

The marines were supposed to be out in October, but will now leave a month later in November.

June was the bloodiest month for foreign soldiers in Afghanistan since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001, with 49 dead. In Iraq, 31 foreign troops, including 29 Americans, were killed during the same period, according to icasualties.org.

A US Navy official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, emphasized that the repositioning of the Abraham Lincoln was unrelated to tensions with Iran, which Tuesday announced that the Revolutionary Guard forces were kicking off a new round of war games.

"This is not a move in preparation for an attack on Iran. We're simply repositioning the capabilities to support the commanders on the ground down there," the official said.

The operations in Afghanistan and Iraq "are extremely dynamic and sometimes we have to adjust the posture of forces so we can we can take advantage of certain opportunities that are there," the official said.

earlier related report
UN leads global condemnation of Kabul bombing
The United Nations led worldwide condemnation of the bombing of India's embassy in Afghanistan, which left 41 dead in one of the worst attacks in the country since the fall of the Taliban.

The UN Security Council called it a "reprehensible act of terrorism" and expressed concern about the continuing threat posed by the hardline Islamic militant Taliban, who ruled the nation from 1996 to 2001.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in Japan for the summit of the Group of Eight wealthy nations, said he condemned the attack "in the strongest terms" and called for those behind it to be brought to justice.

"No political agenda or grievance can justify such reprehensible means," Ban said.

A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into the Indian embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul on Monday, killing 41 people and wounding nearly 150 others.

The Indian embassy's military attache and a political counselor were killed along with two Indian guards. The body of one of the diplomats was flung onto the roof of the embassy by the force of the blast and only found hours later.

India is one of Afghanistan's staunchest allies as the war-torn country battles an increasingly bloody Taliban insurgency, and the international community has sent in about 70,000 troops to aid the Afghan government.

The United States, which has the biggest contingent of those troops, called the attack a "needless act of violence" and said it stood with the people of both Afghanistan and India against their "common enemy" of extremism.

"Extremists continue to show their disregard for all human life and their willingness to kill fellow Muslims," US national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

NATO, which altogether leads more than 50,000 troops in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) trying to help bolster the government, was also quick to condemn the attack.

"The loss of life and injuries to so many is a tragedy, and a clear attempt to undermine regional relations," NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said, calling on all parties to "remain calm in the face of this provocation."

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany, the third biggest contributor of NATO forces in Afghanistan, said "terrorists" were trying to prevent the establishment of an "orderly and democratic" Afghanistan.

The European Union's External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said: "Terrorist attacks will never be a means to achieve anything."

India said those behind the bombing were "no better than the worst criminals" and insisted: "Such acts of terror will not deter us from fulfilling our commitments to the government and people of Afghanistan."

The Afghan government said the attack had been coordinated with and helped by "regional intelligence circles" -- an apparent reference to Pakistan.

Kabul has repeatedly accused elements in Pakistan's army and its shadowy intelligence service of giving financial and other support to Taliban and other extremists for strategic interests.

Pakistan itself expressed "profound condolences" over the attack.

"Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, as this menace negates the very essence of human values," Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said.

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