WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush will seek more than $7 billion for security and rebuilding Afghanistan in his upcoming budget, The Washington Post reported.

The amount is a significant jump from past funding, as the United States has committed a little more than $14 billion to Afghanistan since it led an invasion in 2001 to oust the Taliban Muslim fundamentalist regime.

Word of the administration's bid to make a bigger push in the war effort comes just two weeks after Bush announced a surge of more than 20,000 troops for Iraq.

There are about 34,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan, including about 12,000 U.S. personnel, and another 12,000 U.S. troops operate there under U.S. command.

The Bush administration has been putting pressure on fellow NATO members such as Germany, Italy and Spain to lift their restrictions on their troops being deployed in the more violent southern areas of Afghanistan, where the Taliban insurgency is strongest. // Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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