Each month in the Big Picture, we post a collection of photographs from Afghanistan. They feature American forces and those of other countries, and they show us daily life among the Afghan people. In June, President Obama declared that the United States had largely achieved its goals in Afghanistan, which set in motion an aggressive timetable for the withdrawal of American troops. However, the fighting has spiked in some regions of the country. On Aug. 6, the United States suffered its deadliest day in the nearly decade-long war when insurgents shot down a Chinook transport helicopter, killing 30 Americans and eight Afghans. According to the United Nations, 360 Afghan civilians were killed in June alone. The surges of violence reflect how deeply entrenched the insurgency remains even far from its strongholds. The war continues. -- Paula Nelson (42 photos total)
Villager Juma Khan meets with the provincial district governor and fellow villagers at a shura, or consultation, on July 23 at the US Marine Patrol Base Salaam Bazaar in Helmand province, Afghanistan. As mentors with the international coalition attempt to phase out their involvement and put Afghan institutions in the lead, the Taliban continue to gain strength in many of Helmand's northern communities, where legitimate Afghan governance is more of a plan than a reality. (David Goldman/Associated Press)
Now Zad District Governor Said Murad Sadtak hangs his head during a shura with villagers July 23 at US Marine Patrol Base Salaam Bazaar in Helmand province, Afghanistan. The Afghan government officially took control of security in the capital of Helmand last month, as Western influence wanes. (David Goldman/Associated Press) #
Afghan security forces join the Bravo and Delta company, 2-87 Infantry Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team as they are about to begin a ground and air assault operation in Kandahar province on the night of Aug. 14. According to Major Kirby Dennis, an operations officer, the five-hour operation resulted in the capture of two suspected Taliban leaders and assorted bomb-making components. (Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images) #
US soldiers from Bravo and Delta Company transport suspected Taliban insurgents to the Forward Operating Base Pasab in Zahri district, Kandahar, on Aug. 15 following an overnight raid. According to Major Kirby Dennis, operations officer, the operation will reduce the insurgents' offensive capability. (Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images) #
An Afghan National police officer observes what's called the "Green Zone" from the watch tower of a US-Afghan outpost in Makuan village in Kandahar province. Coalition forces have dubbed the area near the Arghandab River and Highway 1 the Green Zone because its thick vegetation often serves as cover for insurgents to make bombs and launch attacks. (Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images) #
Afghan children gather at a vegetable stall along Highway 1 in Kandalay village in Kandahar as US soldiers from the Third Brigade and Afghan National Army conduct a joint patrol on Aug. 8. Nearby in Kelawai village, US troops had launched missile attacks on Taliban targets, killing at least three and capturing two insurgents. (Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images) #
Staff Sergeant Adam Hendrickson (left), 29, of Winter Park, Fla., tries to fit his assault rifle into the overhead compartment upon boarding a flight at Manas, Kyrgyzstan. He is heading home with his unit of the 101st Airborne Division after completing its deployment in Afghanistan on Aug. 11. President Obama plans to withdraw 10,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year. (David Goldman/Associated Press) #
First Lieutenant Nikesh Kapadia (center), 24, of Queens, N.Y., waits with comrades of his 101st Airborne unit to go through customs at the Transit Center in Manas, Kyrgyzstan. The unit is returning to Fort Campbell, Ky., after its yearlong deployment in Afghanistan. (David Goldman/Associated Press) #
Sergeant First Class Nathan Marshall (center), 30 of Kahoka, Mo., takes a look at a mural commemorating the World Trade Center at the Transit Center in Manas, Kyrgyzstan, as he waits with fellow soldiers for the flight home. His Fourth Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, was included in the last brigade to deploy as part of President Obama's 30,000 troop surge. (David Goldman/Associated Press) #
US soldiers talk to Afghan elders during a joint patrol with Afghan soldiers at Kandalay village in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar on Aug. 8. US forces have been accelerating their counterinsurgency efforts to battle for the hearts and minds of the local population. (Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images) #
Captain Max Ferguson plays with Afghan children during a joint patrol with Afghan National Army soldiers at Kandalay village in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar on Aug. 8, while US troops launched missile attacks on Taliban targets in nearby Kelawai village killing at least three and capturing two insurgents. US forces push their counterinsurgency efforts to battle for the hearts and minds of the local population. (Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images) #
US soldiers keep guard near a canal running thru Highway 1 on the outskirts of Kandalay village in Kandahar province on August 6, as part of a mission to secure southern Afghanistan's strategic roadway against Taliban insurgents' placements of improvised explosive devices (IED). According to Captain Max Ferguson commander of Charlie Co., a Taliban was killed while trying to place IED some 800 meters from the area where soldiers were sealing off the road culvert with iron grids and barb wires. (Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images) #
Specialist Aleksander Trares (right) and Private Lane Shinogle from the Third Brigade Combat Team wake up next to their 60mm mortar following attacks by Taliban insurgents on their checkpoint in Kandalay village, Kandahar province, on Aug. 5, 2011. US troops and Afghan forces repelled the attacks. Since the checkpoint was set up two days earlier, Taliban have staged several attacks. (Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images) #
Troops from the Third Brigade conduct a joint patrol with Afghan National Army soldiers in the center of Kandalay village in Kandahar, as a firefight against Taliban insurgents erupts in the outskirts of the village on Aug. 4. The 140,000 strong US-dominated international military in Afghanistan is engaged in a massive drive to train Afghan police and army to take over before all foreign combat troops leave the country in 2014. (Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images) #
A soldier from the Third Brigade carries ammunition at a checkpoint Aug. 5 in Kandalay village in Kandahar province. US troops together with forces from the Afghan National Army earlier repelled Taliban insurgents attacks on the checkpoint, which protects the western area of Kandalay. (Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images) #
Colonel Sean Jenkins (left), commander of the 506th Infantry Regiment, says goodbye to Major Ed Brady before boarding a plane to begin the trip home upon completion of a deployment Aug. 7. Jenkins's unit, part of the 101st Airborne Division, left a forward base in Paktika province, Afghanistan. (David Goldman/Associated Press) #
Private Dillon Wall, 19, of Muldrow, Okla., holds his US Customs form while listening to instructions to check his bag at the Transit Center in Manas, Kyrgyzstan, as he continues home after leaving Afghanistan upon completing a deployment Aug. 8. The Fourth Brigade Combat Team's 3,000 troops operated in the eastern Paktika province to maintain security along the mountainous border with Pakistan. (David Goldman/Associated Press) #
No comments:
Post a Comment