U.S. President Barack Obama decreased his funding request for the war in Afghanistan by 10 percent in a letter to Congress on May 17, Reuters reported May 18.
Taliban militants kidnapped 13 local Afghan police after a clash in Urozgan province's Charchino district, an official said May 12, Pajhwok news agency reported.
A senior insurgent leader with ties to the Taliban and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan was arrested in the Burka district of Afghanistan's Baghlan province on May 12, an International Security Assistance Force statement said, Xinhua reported.
The United States has shifted focus from Iraq to Afghanistan. At its height, the surge will take force levels in Afghanistan to nearly 100,000 U.S. and some 40,000 International Security Assistance Force troops -- combined, more than the Soviets had at the height of their occupation. The U.S. strategy is ambitious and has an aggressive timetable, making the current developments of pivotal importance for the American effort there.
