Afpak Photo War
Archive 18

Calgary Herald reporter Michelle Lang is seen in a handout photo released to Reuters on December 30, 2009. According to local media reports, Lang and four Canadian soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan on Wednesday. She was covering the war for the Canwest News Service. Reuters

Italian Sergio Cicala (L) and his wife Philomene Kabore are pictured kneeling in front of five armed kidnappers against a desert background in this digitally altered image distributed by the IntelCenter on December 30, 2009. Al Qaeda's North African wing said on Monday that it was responsible for the kidnapping this month of the Italian couple in Mauritania, Al Arabiya television reported. Salah Abu Mohamed, a spokesman for Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, said in an audiotape recorded on December 27 the seizure of the Italians was connected to the "crimes of the Italian government in Afghanistan and Iraq", Al Arabiya said. Reuters

Afghans chant anti American slogans in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2009, during a protest against the recent killings of 10 civilians allegedly by coalition forces in Kunar province. The head of a presidential delegation investigating the deaths the 10 people in eastern Afghanistan concluded Wednesday that civilians, including schoolchildren, were killed in an attack involving foreign troops, disputing NATO reports that the dead were insurgents. AP

Afghans rally in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2009, during a protest against the recent killings of 10 civilians allegedly by coalition forces in Kunar province. The head of a presidential delegation investigating the deaths in eastern Afghanistan concluded Wednesday that civilians, including schoolchildren, were killed in the attack involving foreign troops, disputing NATO reports that the dead were insurgents.

Mourners react as the coffins of three British soldiers killed in Afghanistan are driven through the streets of Wootton Bassett in southwest England, December 29, 2009. Lance Corporals Christopher Roney, of 3rd Battalion The Rifles, Tommy Brown, of the Parachute Regiment and Michael Pritchard of the 4th Regiment, the Royal Military Police, were all repatriated to RAF Lyneham after being killed in Afghanistan. Reuters

An Afghan policeman searches children at the entrance of the skateboarding park in Kabul December 29, 2009. Afghanistan's first skateboarding park and school opened in Kabul on Tuesday with a skateboarding showdown among dozens of youngsters ranging from ministers' children to street kids, hoping that it will promote social cohesion and keep children out of the streets. Reuters

An undated photo provided by the Gutierrez family and released by the U.S. Army shows Staff Sgt. David Gutierrez of Fort Lewis' 5th Brigade. The Army says Staff Sgt. David H. Gutierrez of San Francisco was on patrol in Afghanistan on Christmas Day when he died. AP

Family members of Lieutenant Andrew R. Nuttall approach the hearse carrying his casket at Canadian Forces Base Trenton December 28, 2009. Lieutenant Nuttall died when an improvised explosive device detonated while he was on foot patrol southwest of Kandahar city in Afghanistan on December 23, 2009. His body arrived back in Canada today. Reuters

U.S. soldiers provide security before loading a CH-47 Chinook during an air assault mission Dec. 18, 2009, Parwan, Afghanistan. The soldiers are assigned to the 82nd Division's Company B, Special Troops Battalion. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher Allison

U.S. Army soldiers establish a security perimeter after being inserted into a remote area to conduct combat operations in Paktika province, Afghanistan, Dec. 18, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Andrew Smith

U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Christopher Duffourc, top, fires a wire-guided missile at a range, in the Middle East, Dec. 13, 2009, as Sgt. Roberto Colon, stands by on the ground as a position safety officer. Duffourc and Colon are assigned to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Gunnery Sgt. Scott Dunn

[Above and below] Marines with 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, conduct combat operations in Now Zad, Afghanistan, during Operation Cobra's Anger, Dec.4, 2009. Operation Cobra's Anger disrupted enemy supply lines and communication in Now Zad, once a safe haven for Taliban forces. Byline: Lance Cpl. Walter Marino. DatePhotoTaken: 12/11/2009 12:58:00 PM

Jacob Schneider of the Connecticut National Guard, 1st Battalion, 102nd Infantry Regiment hugs his mother Lori Schneider, right, at the William A. O'Neill Armory in Hartford, Conn. , Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009. Two units of the Connecticut National Guard are returning home for the holidays, thanks to a fundraising effort to bus them back to the state from bases in Wisconsin and Indiana. They have been training for deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan early in the new year. AP

Soldiers belonging to the 2nd Battalion 12th Infantry carry mortar rounds as they prepare to fire on enemy positions from Command Outpost Michigan near the village of Kandigal, in the Pech river valley, Kunar province, Afghanistan Thursday Dec. 24, 2009. AP

U.S. army soldiers Sergeant Kelly (L-R), Sergeant Dickson,Sergeant Czech, SFC Hughes and Sergeant Rayls from Task Force Denali Platoon 1-40 CAV listen to the head of the Afghan national policemen at a police station at Dwamanda district in Khowst province, Afghanistan, December 23, 2009. Reuters

U.S. Marines with 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment conduct a patrol during Operation Kapcha Khafak III in Helmand province, Afghanistan, Dec. 17, 2009. The Marines are conducting village and house searches of the surrounding area in support of Regimental Combat Team 7, whose mission is to conduct counterinsurgency operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Christopher M. Paulton/Released) Date Posted: 12/23/2009

U.S. Marines with 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment conduct a house search during Operation Kapcha Khafak III in Helmand province, Afghanistan, Dec. 17, 2009. The Marines are conducting village and house searches of the surrounding area in support of Regimental Combat Team 7, whose mission is to conduct counterinsurgency operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Christopher M. Paulton/Released) Date Posted: 12/23/2009

U.S. Army 1st Lt. John Cumbie, assigned to Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, speaks with Afghan locals during a patrol in the Kolak village in the Kunar province, Afghanistan, Dec. 17, 2009 (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Leonardo Torres/Released) Date Posted: 12/22/2009

U.S. Marine Corps 1st Lt. Matthew Orr, assigned to Embedded Training Team 7-5, and Afghan National Army soldiers conduct a patrol through Kolak village in the Kunar province, Afghanistan, Dec. 17, 2009. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Leonardo Torres/Released) Date Posted: 12/22/2009

[Above, two below] U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade arrive in a CH-47D Chinook helicopter to Forward Operation Base Joyce, Afghanistan, Dec. 17, 2009. (U.S. Army photos by Sgt. Teddy Wade/Released) Date Posted: 12/22/2009

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, left, listens to an injured soldier at a military hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009. Karzai visited some of the hospitalized Afghan security men, who were injured during the violence in the country.

Staff Sgt. Josh Campbell from Winfield, Kan. , of the 2nd Battalion 12th Infantry looks down after stopping at a police roadblock to talk to local authorities on a road near the village of Kandigal, in the Pech river valley, Kunar province, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009. AP

Soldiers from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, called 'The Old Guard,' conduct military honors for Sergeant Daniel Frazier during his burial ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery December 22, 2009 in Arlington, Virginia. A member of the 782d Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Frazier was killed November 19, 2009 in Zabul province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when a suicide car-bomber attacked his unit. Getty

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen (L) consoles and thanks family members of U.S. Army Sergeant Daniel Frazier during Frazier's interment ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery December 22, 2009 in Arlington, Virginia. Getty

Stf. Sgt. Byron Krepcho from Dallas, TX. , of the 2nd Battalion 12th Infantry keep an eye before crossing an open field after his unit surveyed an irrigation project in the village of Matin, in the Pech river valley, Kunar province, Afghanistan Tuesday Dec. 22, 2009. AP ["Embrace the Suck"]

Pvt. 2 Shon Bentley from Atlanta, GA. , of the 2nd Battalion 12th Infantry crosses a ditch after his unit inspected an irrigation project in the village of Matin, in the Pech river valley, Kunar province, Afghanistan Tuesday Dec. 22, 2009. AP

Pvt. 2 Zachariah Thompson, of Sakcentre, Minn. , from 2nd Battalion 12th Infantry, watches a ridgeline as his unit surveys an irrigation project under construction in the village of Matin, in the Pech river valley, Kunar province, Afghanistan Tuesday Dec. 22, 2009. AP

United States Marines LCpl. Owen Selby of Tenn. , left, and LCpl. Franklin Romans, center, of Mich. from the 2nd Battalion 2nd Marines "Warlords" stand guard during a shura or meeting between the Marines, local government officials, and villagers in the Garmsir district of the volatile Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. The meeting was part of an operation in the area to push out insurgents. AP

U.S Army soldiers from Task Force Denali 1-40 CAV combat team keeps watch while their comrade collect information on shops owners at the bazaar during a patrol in town of Saway-kowt in Khowst province, Afghanistan, December 21, 2009. Reuters

U.S. Army Capt. Carl Subler, a chaplain with the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, leads a Catholic Mass for Soldiers from 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment awaiting transportation at the helicopter loading zone at Forward Operating Base Wolverine, Zabul, Afghanistan, December 12, 2009. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Christine Jones/Released) Date Posted: 12/16/2009

U.S. Soldiers dance during a performance by musician Billy Ray Cyrus at the 2009 USO Holiday Tour stop in Baghdad, Iraq, Dec. 18, 2009. Former tennis player Anna Kournikova, comedian Dave Attell and tennis coach Nicholas Bollettieri joined Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. Mike Mullen and his wife Deborah on the tour to visit with troops in Afghanistan, Iraq and Germany. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley, U.S. Navy/Released) Date Posted: 12/19/2009

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. Mike Mullen tour a marketplace in Abu Ghraib, Iraq, Dec. 19, 2009. Mullen and his wife Deborah are in the area hosting the 2009 USO Holiday Troop visit, which includes participants, former tennis player Anna Kournikova, musician Billy Ray Cyrus, comedian Dave Attell and tennis coach Nicholas Bollettieri. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley, U.S. Navy/Released) Date Posted: 12/20/2009

U.S. Soldiers with 3rd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery Regiment conduct a fire mission using an M-777 105mm howitzer at Forward Operating Base Ramrod, Afghanistan, Dec. 15, 2009. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Dayton Mitchell/Released) Date Posted: 12/17/2009

U.S. Army Pfc. Justin Snider, with 3rd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery Regiment, rests on an M-777 105mm howitzer before a fire mission at Forward Operating Base Ramrod, Afghanistan, Dec. 15, 2009. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Dayton Mitchell/Released) Date Posted: 12/17/2009

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates listens to a question from a reporter [New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, center] while en route to Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 7, 2009. Gates is flying to Afghanistan to speak about the U.S. strategy to deploy an additional 30,000 troops. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Jerry Morrison/Released) Date Posted: 12/8/2009

Maureen Dowd Source