Afghanistan Wartime Architecture June 2010
Part 4
 

Italian Army soldiers eat in their small dining tent June 30, 2010 at Forward Operating Base Todd in Bala Murghab, Afghanistan. The US Army's 82nd Airborne along with NATO Italian troops have been working for nearly a year in this combative zone in the far northwest of the country near the Turkmenistan border, attempting to pacify and extend the Afghanistan central government rule to this rural and fiercely independent area rife with Taliban insurgents. Getty

U.S. Army Sgt. Ryan Hara from Charlie Co. Sixth Battalion, 101st Airborne Combat Aviation Brigade, Task Force Shadow rests on a couch as he waits for MEDEVAC calls June 30, 2010 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. As combat operations begin to escalate near Kandahar, the 101st Airborne MEDEVAC unit transports casualties of war as well as sick and injured local residents. Getty

Soldiers of 88 Battery 4 Regiment Royal Artillery attached to 1st Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles fire a 105 mm light gun to an insurgent position at their base in Nahr e Saraj, Helmand on June 30, 2010. A total of 100 foreign soldiers fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan have died in June, the deadliest month for NATO in nine years of conflict, intensifying concerns about the conduct of the war. Getty

Smoke rises outside an airfield used by Afghan and international forces in Jalalabad, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, June 30, 2010. Militants set off a car bomb and stormed the entrance to the airport and eight insurgents died in the ensuing gunbattle, authorities said. AP

A group of Afghan Police, Afghan Army, and NATO American and Italian troops move up a hill duriing an informational mission June 30, 2010 in Bala Murghab, Afghanistan. The US Army's 82nd Airborne along with NATO Italian troops have been working for nearly a year in this combative zone in the far northwest of the country near the Turkmenistan border, attempting to pacify and extend the Afghanistan central government rule to this rural and fiercely independent area rife with Taliban insurgents. Getty

Royal Engineers from B Company 1st Battalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles work with local labourers on a road construction site to link the towns of Gereshk and Lashkar Gah in Helmand on June 29, 2010. A total of 100 foreign soldiers fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan have died in June, the deadliest month for NATO in nine years of conflict, intensifying concerns about the conduct of the war. Getty

Royal Engineers from B Company 1st Battalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles work with local labourers on a road construction site to link the towns of Gereshk and Lashkar Gah in Helmand on June 29, 2010. A total of 100 foreign soldiers fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan have died in June, the deadliest month for NATO in nine years of conflict, intensifying concerns about the conduct of the war. Getty

The village of Bala Murghab, Afghanistan is seen in Badghis Province June 29, 2010. The 82nd Airborne along with NATO Italian troops have been working for nearly a year in this combative zone in the far northwest of the country near the Turkmenistan border, attempting to pacify and extend the Afghanistan central government rule to this rural and fiercely independent area rife with Taliban insurgents. Getty

Paratroopers in the US Army's 82nd Airborne Division awaken in the early morning at combat outpost Impala June 29, 2010 in Bala Murghab, Afghanistan. The 82nd Airborne along with NATO Italian troops have been working for nearly a year in this combative zone in the far northwest of the country near the Turkmenistan border, attempting to pacify and extend the Afghanistan central government rule to this rural and fiercely independent area rife with Taliban insurgents. Getty

Soldiers from 1st Battalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles prepare goat meat for a meal at a patrol base in Nahr e Saraj, Helmand on June 28, 2010. The death toll for foreign soldiers in Afghanistan neared the grim milestone of 100 for June alone as the CIA chief warned the anti-Taliban war would be tougher and longer than expected. Getty

Norwegian soldiers stand guard in front of refrigerators containing Norwegian soldiers bodies at a Norwegian military camp in Maymana city of Faryab province, north of Kabul on June 28, 2010. The death toll among foreign soldiers fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan closed in on the grim toll of 100 for June alone as the CIA chief warned that the war will be tougher and longer than expected. The deaths of four Norwegian soldiers on June 27, when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in the northern province of Faryab, brought to 98 the number of NATO soldiers killed this month. Getty

Soldiers from B Company 1st Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles search for IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) during a patrol in Nahr e Saraj, Helmand on June 28, 2010. The death toll for foreign soldiers in Afghanistan neared the grim milestone of 100 for June alone as the CIA chief warned the anti-Taliban war would be tougher and longer than expected. Getty

Corporal Bhim Gurung (R) from B Company 1st Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles trains Afghan National Army soldiers at a base in a Nahr e Saraj village, Helmand, on June 28, 2010. The death toll for foreign soldiers in Afghanistan neared the grim milestone of 100 for June alone as the CIA chief warned the anti-Taliban war would be tougher and longer than expected. Getty

A soldier from the 1st Battalion the Royal Gurkha Rifles makes a telephone call at a patrol base in Nahr e Saraj, Helmand on June 28, 2010. The death toll for foreign soldiers in Afghanistan neared the grim milestone of 100 for June alone as the CIA chief warned the anti-Taliban war would be tougher and longer than expected. Getty

Gurkha Rifles, Captain Abi Bradley (C) monitors soldiers studying for a literacy and numeracy exam at a patrol base in Nahr e Saraj, Helmand on June 28, 2010. The death toll for foreign soldiers in Afghanistan neared the grim milestone of 100 for June alone as the CIA chief warned the anti-Taliban war would be tougher and longer than expected. Getty

Afghan miners work in a coal mine in 100 km east of the western city of Herat on June 26, 2010 in Afghanistan. A US survey has uncovered at least one trillion dollars worth of mineral deposits in Afghanistan, however with barely any mining industry or infrastructure in place in the war torn country, there are doubts as to how Afghanistan will be able to manage this windfall. Getty

A side alley is busy with men, women and children June 26, 2010 in downtown Herat, Afghanistan. Historic Herat, one of Afghanistan's largest cities, is bustling these days and is considered mostly safe by American and Italian troops tasked with securing the region, who have mostly seen attacks in rural areas of the province. Getty

A U.S. Army MEDEVAC helicopter from Charlie Co. Sixth Battalion, 101st Airborne Combat Aviation Brigade, Task Force Shadow prepares to land to pick up a wounded U.S. Soldier June 22, 2010 at a forward operating base near Kandahar, Afghanistan. As combat operations begin to escalate near Kandahar, the 101st Airborne MEDEVAC unit transports casualties of war as well as sick and injured local residents. Getty

Soldiers of A Company from the 1st Battalion of Royal Gurkha Rifles take positions during a patrol in Nahr e Saraj village, in Helmand, on June 24, 2010. Britain has around 9,500 troops in Afghanistan and is the second biggest contributor of forces to ISAF after the United States. Getty

Afghans walk through the village bazaar June 22, 2010 in the Khushi Khona area of Afghanistan, in Herat Province near the Turkmenistan border. The 82nd Airborne along with NATO Italian troops have been working for nearly a year in this historic area of Afghanistan, dotted with ancient villages just north of the cosmopolitan city of Herat. Getty

Paratroopers in the 4th Brigade of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division eat breakfast and clean weapons at dawn after over-nighting in a field during a mission June 22, 2010 in Khushi Khona, Afghanistan, in the northern reaches of Herat Province near the Turkmenistan border. An element of the 82nd Airborne along with NATO Italian troops have been working for nearly a year in this historic area of Afghanistan, dotted with ancient villages just north of the cosmopolitan city of Herat. Getty

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai (C) meets with the UN Security Council delegation in Kabul June 22, 2010. The United Nations has agreed to remove Taliban members who renounce ties to al Qaeda from a U.N. blacklist on a "gradual" basis, Afghan President Hamid Karzai's office said on Tuesday. Reuters

Afghan men and boys gather at a market near the governmental building hosting a meeting between President Hamid Karzai and tribal leaders in Kandahar city on June 13, 2010. Afghan President Hamid Karzai appealed to hundreds of tribal and religious leaders to support a major operation in their southern province, the heartland of a Taliban insurgency. Karzai, accompanied by top NATO commander US General Stanley McChrystal, spoke to representatives and residents in Kandahar about renewed efforts to bring stability to the war-weary province. Getty