US designates Afghanistan as major ally:
The United States has designated Afghanistan a major non-NATO ally, giving the war-torn country special privileges as the US prepares to pull its troops out in 2014, AFP reports citing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Saturday.
Afghanistan and Pakistan pose a major security threat to the United States, where Al-Qaeda and its affiliate terrorist groups are seeking to regain territorial control, President Barack Obama's nominee to be ambassador to Kabul said on Thurday.