The Afghan government announced on Monday that it has formed a major crime unit to tackle corruption, in a move seen as bowing to international pressure to fight endemic graft.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan will form a high-level anti-corruption unit to investigate graft among senior officials, the Interior Ministry said on Monday, after widespread criticism and demands from Washington for the government to do more.

The Afghan government said on Monday it had formed a major crime unit to tackle corruption, following escalating Western pressure on President Hamid Karzai to fight graft.

The Afghan government announced Monday that it has formed a major crime unit to tackle corruption, in a move seen as bowing to international pressure to fight endemic graft.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan will form a new anti-corruption unit to investigate high-level graft after widespread criticism and demands from Washington for it to do more amid a wider regional strategy review.

The Afghan government said on Monday it had formed a major crime unit to tackle corruption, following escalating Western pressure on President Hamid Karzai to fight graft.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Monday that al Qaeda remained the biggest threat to U.S. security, as his aides stepped up pressure on Afghanistan and Pakistan to cooperate with Washington's strategy in the troubled region.

The Afghan government said on Monday it had formed a major crime unit to tackle corruption, following escalating Western pressure on President Hamid Karzai to fight graft.

The Afghan government said Monday it had formed a major crime unit to tackle corruption, following escalating Western pressure on President Hamid Karzai to fight graft.

The Afghan government said Monday it had formed a major crime unit to tackle corruption, following escalating Western pressure on President Hamid Karzai to fight graft.

For a third time, Afghanistan sets up anti-corruption squad; critics seek deeds not just words. Afghanistan's newly unveiled anti-corruption unit drew guarded praise Monday from a wary international community, which has heard President Hamid Karzai promise before to end the graft and thievery that's bleeding his nation.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan laid out plans for the November 7 run-off presidential vote on Thursday in an announcement criticized as insufficient to prevent fraud, a day after a Taliban attack on U.N. staff reinforced concerns about security.

Afghanistan's former presidential challenger on Wednesday slammed Hamid Karzai's re-election as illegal, piling pressure on the head of state as his foreign allies warned him to deliver on reform pledges.

Afghanistan's former presidential challenger on Wednesday slammed Hamid Karzai's re-election as illegal, piling pressure on the head of state as his foreign allies warned him to deliver on reform pledges.

Afghanistan's former presidential challenger on Wednesday slammed Hamid Karzai's re-election as illegal, piling pressure on the head of state as his foreign allies warned him to deliver on reform pledges.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has teamed up with private aid groups and technology companies to develop an online map tracking election-related incidents in Afghanistan.

Donkeys trot to the rescue in Afghan elections, where toting ballots means climbing mountains. A lack of decent roads and its towering, craggy mountains are leading Afghanistan to turn to an age-old mode of transport to ferry ballots to remote regions ahead of Thursday's election: the donkey.

Security fears could see hundreds of Afghan polling centers shut in presidential elections. Hundreds of polling stations could be closed in Afghanistan's most violent regions, raising concerns that many ethnic Pashtuns will be unable to vote in next month's presidential elections. That could undermine the legitimacy of the election, cause turmoil and possibly deprive President Hamid Karzai of a first-round victory.

Two NATO soldiers died Sunday in an attack claimed by the Taliban on a key military base in Afghanistan, the latest incident in an upsurge of violence ahead of presidential polls set for August.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's interior minister said on Sunday the Taliban have stepped up their attacks in many parts of the country and warned the Islamist militants would attempt to sabotage an August 20 presidential election.