According to reports, US Ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan Crocker will be stepping down. The US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said on May 22, 2012 that the 62-year-old veteran envoy would leave his post in Kabul this summer because of health reasons however, she declined to provide details. Crocker departure comes a year earlier than planned after he came out of retirement in 2011 to take the helm of the embassy in Kabul at President Obama's personal request.1

In another development, according to reports, a suicide bomber has killed ten people including children at a security check post in Khost province of Afghanistan. 2

• 1. “US Ambassador to step down from Kabul post”, Al Jazeera, May 23, 2012 at http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2012/05/2012522114317578741.html
• 2. “Suicide blast kills 10 at Afghan checkpoint in Khost”, BBC, May 19, 2012 at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18130207