The deaths brought to at least 22 the number of U.S. service members killed this month — compared with 14 for last January. A mild winter has brought no respite to the fighting, which traditionally drops off during the cold months.

The south is the Taliban heartland, and is expected to be a major focus of fighting as the U.S. and NATO allies send 37,000 additional troops to turn the tide of the war.

“The end state of the mission is to protect the population and isolate the insurgency in a way where it doesn’t constitute a threat to the Afghan government,” Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, said Friday during a visit to the Western command. “It’s realistic to expect an increase of risk to coalition forces.”

Also Saturday, militants kidnapped a district police chief and two other officers on foot patrol near the eastern border with Pakistan — the latest in a series of attacks targeting Afghan officials.

– Associated Press

JAPAN

Ruling party figure quizzed over funds

Prosecutors questioned ruling party figure Ichiro Ozawa for more than four hours Saturday about a funding scandal that is dimming the Democratic Party of Japan’s prospects in a midyear election, Japanese news media said.

The scandal ensnaring Ozawa, the DPJ’s key campaign strategist, has eroded support for Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s government ahead of the poll for parliament’s upper house, risking a policy stalemate in the long term.