Reuters Pictures 1 day ago

A soldier from the U.S. Army's 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, Task Force Bulldog speaks on a radio as others fire at a Taliban position after they attacked the Combat Outpost (COP) Boston in Kherwar district in Logar province, eastern Afghanistan, May 25, 2012.

Reuters Pictures 3 days ago

Shreen Mohammad takes part in a military exercise at the Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC) in Kabul March 26, 2012. A landmark NATO summit in Chicago endorsed an exit strategy that calls for handing control of Afghanistan to its own security forces by the middle of next year but...

Reuters Pictures 3 days ago

Shreen Mohammad shows his certificate during the graduation ceremony which marks the completion of nine weeks of training at the Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC) in Kabul May 10, 2012. A landmark NATO summit in Chicago endorsed an exit strategy that calls for handing control of...

Reuters Pictures 3 days ago

Shreen Mohammad wears his boots during nine weeks of army training at the Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC) in Kabul March 13, 2012. A landmark NATO summit in Chicago endorsed an exit strategy that calls for handing control of Afghanistan to its own security forces by the middle of...

Reuters Pictures 3 days ago

Shreen Mohammad gestures during a military exercise at the Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC) in Kabul April 18, 2012. A landmark NATO summit in Chicago endorsed an exit strategy that calls for handing control of Afghanistan to its own security forces by the middle of next year but...

Reuters Pictures 3 days ago

Afghan National Army soldiers take part in a military exercise at the Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC) in Kabul April 9, 2012. A landmark NATO summit in Chicago endorsed an exit strategy that calls for handing control of Afghanistan to its own security forces by the middle of next...

Reuters Pictures 3 days ago

Shreen Mohammad aims his rifle on a firing range during a military exercise at the Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC) in Kabul April 9, 2012. A landmark NATO summit in Chicago endorsed an exit strategy that calls for handing control of Afghanistan to its own security forces by the...

Reuters Pictures 3 days ago

Afghan National Army soldiers march during the graduation ceremony which marks the completion of nine weeks of training at the Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC) in Kabul May 10, 2012. A landmark NATO summit in Chicago endorsed an exit strategy that calls for handing control of...

Reuters Pictures 3 days ago

Shreen Mohammad (C) stands with his fellow soldiers during a military exercise at the Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC) in Kabul March 26, 2012. A landmark NATO summit in Chicago endorsed an exit strategy that calls for handing control of Afghanistan to its own security forces by...

Reuters Pictures 3 days ago

Afghan National Army soldiers practice first aid during a military exercise at the Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC) in Kabul March 28, 2012. A landmark NATO summit in Chicago endorsed an exit strategy that calls for handing control of Afghanistan to its own security forces by the...

Reuters Pictures 5 days ago

A U.S. Army soldier of 3/1 AD Task Force Bulldog fires a M2 .50 cal at a Taliban position from the rooftop of a building at Combat Outpost (COP) Boston in Kherwar district in Logar province, eastern Afghanistan, May 21, 2012.

Getty Images 1 week ago

An Afghan Kuchi girl runs on the outskirts of Herat on May 19, 2012. Poverty and an ongoing insurgency by the ousted Taliban still pose a threat to the stability of the country.

AP Photo 1 week ago

In this Tuesday, May 15, 2012 photo, an Afghan National Army soldier aims his M16 rifle at a firing range at the 203 Thunder Corps base in Gardez, Paktia province, Afghanistan. On the Vietnam-era firearms issued to ANA soldiers, firing range instructor Sgt. Said Aga recalled his M16...

AP Photo 1 week ago

In this Wednesday, May 16, 2012 photo, Afghan National Army soldiers walk over M16 rifles placed on the ground during a training at a firing range at the 203 Thunder Corps base in Gardez, Paktia province, Afghanistan. On the Vietnam-era firearms issued to ANA soldiers, firing range...

AP Photo 1 week ago

In this Wednesday, May 16, 2012 photo, Afghan National Army soldiers line up to get their M16 rifles cleaned at a firing range at the 203 Thunder Corps base in Gardez, Paktia province, Afghanistan. On the Vietnam-era firearms issued to ANA soldiers, firing range instructor Sgt. Said Aga...

Reuters Pictures 1 week ago

A German soldier (C), accompanied by an Afghan translator in a German uniform, talks to an inhabitant of the village Arab Sher Ali in northern Chahar Darrah in this April 24, 2012 file photo. The soldiers wanted to find out about the mood among the Afghans, and were also looking for...

Reuters Pictures 1 week ago

A German soldier patrols the restive Chahar Darrah district, close to Kunduz, in this April 24, 2012 file photo. The German military lost more soldiers in this region due to fights and attacks than at any other place since the end of World War II. After years of fighting, the district...

Getty Images 2 days ago

Inhabitants of Castres pay tribute to Sebastien Devez, one of the French 8th marine parachutist regiment's (RPIMA) soldiers killed in a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan on August 18, 2008, during Sebastien's funerals, on August 23, 2008 in front of the Castres' Saint-Benoit cathedral,...

Getty Images 2 days ago

Inhabitants, relatives and officials stand on August 24, 2008 in a funeral chapel in Noumea, on the New-Caledonia Island, in front of the coffin of corporal Melam Baouma, to pay tribute to one of the ten soldiers killed in a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan on August 18, 2008. The deaths,...

Getty Images 2 days ago

Inhabitants, relatives and family follow the car carrying the coffin of corporal Anthony Riviere, one of the French soldiers killed in a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan on August 18, 2008, after the funeral ceremony, on August 23, 2008 in Tampon on the French island of La Reunion. The...

Reuters Pictures 1 week ago

Shakila Naderi (L), teaches an Afghan girl how to drive a car in Kabul May 15, 2012. The morning after the Taliban fell Naderi shed her head-to-toe burqa, sat behind the wheel of a car for the first time and asked her husband to teach her how to drive. Now Kabul's only female driving...

AP Photo 1 week ago

Afghans pray during the funeral ceremony of Arsala Rahmani, in Kabul Afghanistan, Monday, May 14, 2012. Hundreds of people on Monday mourned the death of a former high-ranking Taliban official who had reconciled with the Afghan government was trying to bring peace to his homeland. A...

AP Photo 1 week ago

Afghan guards of honor stand near the coffin of Arsala Rahmani, during his funeral ceremony in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, May 14, 2012. Hundreds of people on Monday mourned the death of a former high-ranking Taliban official who had reconciled with the Afghan government was trying to...

Reuters Pictures 1 week ago

The coffin of former Taliban minister Maulvi Arsala Rahmani, a senior member of the High Peace Council, is prepared for burial during a funeral in Kabul May 14, 2012. Gunmen shot dead the top Afghan peace negotiator in the capital Kabul on Sunday, dealing a fresh blow to the country's...

Reuters Pictures 1 week ago

Officials and mourners perform funeral prayers over the coffin of former Taliban minister Maulvi Arsala Rahmani, a senior member of the High Peace Council, in Kabul May 14, 2012. Gunmen shot dead the top Afghan peace negotiator in the capital Kabul on Sunday, dealing a fresh blow to...