Come December, when the president intends to assess his Afghan strategy, he will be able to claim tangible successes, General Petraeus predicted by secure video hookup from Kabul, according to administration officials. The general said that the American military would have substantially enlarged the "oil spot" - military jargon for secure area - around Kabul. It will have expanded American control farther outside of Kandahar, the Taliban heartland. And, the aides recalled, the general said the military would have reintegrated a significant number of former Taliban fighters in the south.

KABUL, Afghanistan At least 18 people were killed early Friday when several suicide bombers attacked a hotel popular with foreigners in the center of Kabul.

At least eight Afghan civilians were killed during a protest after a raid on a home by American and Afghan forces.