U.S. Surge Troops Out of Afghanistan

Nearly two years after President Barack Obama ordered 33,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan to tamp down the escalating Taliban violence, the last of those surge troops have left the country.

That's according to U.S. officials. The withdrawal leaves 68,000 American forces in the warzone. It comes as the security transition to Afghan forces is threatened by a spike in so-called insider attacks by Afghan Army and police troops, or insurgents dressed in their uniforms.

The number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan peaked at about 101,000 last year, and they have been coming out slowly over the past several months.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)