US intel chief: Taliban 'increasingly dangerous'

The Afghan Taliban has become "increasingly dangerous" in Afghanistan, adjusting tactics to deal with the arrival of additional US troops last year, the US director of national intelligence said on Tuesday.

In addition, the militant group al-Qaeda's activity had also grown in Afghanistan since 2006 but its overall contribution to the insurgency was still "modest", Dennis Blair said in prepared testimony for a Senate intelligence committee hearing. (Reuters)