KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S. military is doing all it can in Afghanistan to locate Osama bin Laden but cannot say when he will be captured, a spokesman said today.

Col. James Yonts also said the United States was cooperating with neighboring countries such as Pakistan in the hunt for the al-Qaida leader.

“When will he be captured? ... I can’t give you a date, but I can tell you this: Everyone remembers 9/11,” Yonts told reporters in the Afghan capital Kabul.

Bin Laden has long been suspected to be hiding in remote mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan, but no hard evidence has emerged on his exact whereabouts.

Some 20,000 U.S. forces are deployed in Afghanistan, hunting fugitive al-Qaida and Taliban leaders and trying to snuff out a stubborn insurgency that endures despite the ouster of the hardline Taliban regime in late 2001.

There has been increased military activity in Afghanistan this year amid a surge in rebel attacks ahead of landmark legislative elections next month. The U.S. military says it has responded with more operations in an effort to improve security for the vote.

In the latest violence, U.S.-led coalition and Afghan forces killed a suspected Taliban commander responsible for rocket attacks, ambushes and other guerrilla-style assaults in southern Afghanistan, a U.S. military spokesman said.