KABUL - UN officials sounded the alarm Thursday over security conditions in war-ravagd Afghanistan as Secretary General Kofi Annan prepared for the first visit here by a world body chief in more than 40 years.

The US-led coalition's anti-terror drive also picked up steam in Southeast Asia with the arrival of more US troops in the Philippines and new disclosures in Singapore on the extent of terrorist connections.

The magnitude of unfinished business in Afghanistan was becoming clear a month after the installation of a six-month interim administration in Kabul to replace the hardline Taliban regime ousted by US-backed forces.

A senior UN official, speaking on the eve of Annan's visit today, acknowledged concern over factional feuding and lawlessness in a country where hundreds of thousands of people still had weapons.

"There are various armed groups who do not respond yet to central command," said Francesc Vendrell, deputy special envoy to Afghanistan. "There are forces from various commanders facing each other in places such as the north."

"But it is better to solve the problems, to prevent them from becoming worse, when the atmosphere is still the right one," Vendrell told AFP.

Vendrell stuck by his assessment that about 30 000 peacekeeping troops would be needed to maintain order, far more than the 5 000-strong International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) force planned for Kabul.

"I think it is very important that ISAF could be deployed in other parts of the country, even to patrol around the main cities," he said.

Annan will make the first visit to Afghanistan by a UN head since 1959 amid fears that poor security could hamper efforts to rebuild after two decades of war despite pledges of US$4,5 billion in international aid.

Despite lingering security concerns, Afghanistan took new steps towards normalcy after a more than three-month offensive to topple the Taliban and root out Osama bin Laden's suspected terrorist network al Qaeda.

In another sign of business as usual, the first international flight by the Afghan airline Ariana since November 1999 arrived in New Delhi on Thursday from Kabul, after receiving permission to fly through Pakistani airspace.

Afghan leader Hamid Karzai was in China on Thursday where he was expected to be offered more aid, Beijing officials said.

They also said he promised to repatriate any Chinese Muslim separatists discovered in Afghanistan.

On the Southeast Asian front, a mammoth C-17 cargo plane brought a dozen more US troops, equipment and supplies to the southern Philippines where the Americans will help government troops battle Islamic guerrillas.

Singapore authorities said they had uncovered further evidence of a "clear link" between 13 suspected Islamic militants held since last month and al Qaeda.

"The new finding shows a very direct link between the Jemaah Islamiyah group detained here and the al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan," said Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng.

The 13, arrested last month by agents of the Internal Security Department (ISD), allegedly plotted to bomb US targets in the city-state, including a busload of American sailors and the US embassy. - Nampa-AFP