Afpak Photo War
Archive 19

The body of Ahmad Shah Massoud remains inside tomb at his memorial site in the Panjshir Province, Afghanistan, Jan. 5, 2010. Massoud was a local Afghan hero and former leader of the Northern Alliance. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Teddy Wade/Released) Date Posted: 1/11/2010

The cars of Ahmad Shah Massoud are displayed outside his memorial site in the Panjshir Province, Afghanistan, Jan. 5, 2010. Massoud was a local Afghan hero and former leader of the Northern Alliance, who fought the Russian during the Soviet-Afghan War in the 1980s. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Teddy Wade/Released) Date Posted: 1/11/2010

The Queen Palace of Afghanistan is seen on top of a hill, on the south side of Kabul, Afghanistan, July 23, 2009. At one point in history, Afghanistan used to have its own queen and king and each one had their own palace. The palaces still exist, but they were heavy damaged after the Afghan-Russian War in the 1980s. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Teddy Wade/Released) Date Posted: 1/11/2010

Mike Bowles, who works as a law enforcement professional for Military Professional Resources International, is photographed Dec. 21, 2009, in Sharana, Afghanistan. He helps train Afghan National Security Forces on various investigative techniques he learned while working special investigations for the San Diego Sheriff's Department for more than 20 years. He started a projected called Road Watchers, where he trains local Afghan contractors on spotting improvised explosive devices. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Nathan Gallahan/Released) Date Posted: 1/7/2010

Mourners look on as the coffin of Lance Corporal David Kirkness is carried from Wakefield Cathedral by comrades on January 12, 2010 in Wakefield, United Kingdom. L/cpl Kirkness of 3rd Battalion The Rifles was one of two soldiers who died on 15 December as they tried to stop suicide bombers blowing up a marketplace in Afghanistan. Getty

Islam4UK Spokesman Anjem Choudary (L) leaves a press conference in Millbank Studios on January 12, 2010 in London, England. The radical Islamic group had planned to stage a march through Wootton Bassett to honour Muslims who have been killed in the conflict in Afghanistan, but have been prevented from doing so, under counter-terrorism laws. Getty

The first British soldier to die in Afghanistan in 2010, Private Robert Hayes of 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, is seen in this undated handout photo, made available in London January 11, 2010. Hayes, who was killed on Sunday 3 January 2010, will be repatriated in a ceremony at RAF Lyneham on January 11, 2010. Reuters

Art (L) and Sandra Lang, parents of journalist Michelle Lang, along with her fiance stand outside following funeral services in Vancouver, British Columbia January 11, 2010. Michelle, who works for the Calgary Herald newspaper, was killed along with four soldiers while reporting from the war in Afghanistan December 30, 2009. Reuters

Al Qaeda Site Hero Poster

Drone control operation demonstrated for Fox News by US Army. Photo; US Army

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2010/01/09/GR2010010902557.html

Reconstructing the CIA bombing

The Dec. 30 suicide bombing that killed seven CIA personnel and contractors at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost, Afghanistan, is still under investigation. Here is the sequence of events, according to government officials who have been briefed on the attack.

Followed by his wife Janet Brown, pink hat, and family members, the ashes of Harold E. Brown Jr. , 37, of Fairfax Va. , are carried into St. John the Evangelist Church in Clinton, Mass. on Saturday Jan. 9. 2010. Brown, who grew up in Bolton, Mass. , was one of the seven Americans killed in a suicide bombing at a military base in the Khost Province of Afghanistan on December 30th, 2009.

The ashes of Harold E. Brown Jr. , 37, of Fairfax Va. , are carried into St. John the Evangelist Church in Clinton, Mass. on Saturday Jan. 9. 2010. Brown, who grew up in Bolton, Mass. , was one of the seven Americans killed in a suicide bombing at a military base in the Khost Province of Afghanistan on December 30th, 2009. AP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F-VO1MAoX0&feature=player_embedded

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/01/201019115311270699.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/world/middleeast/10balawi.html

Bomber Who Killed C.I.A. Officers Appears in Video

AMMAN, Jordan — The Jordanian suicide bomber who killed seven Central Intelligence Agency operatives in Afghanistan last month appeared in a video early Saturday, saying the attack was carried out in revenge for the 2009 killing of the Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. An Al-Jazeera International video clip of Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al- Balawi, right, explaining his reasons for blowing himself up at a U.S. base in Afghanistan. Humam Khalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi, wearing green camouflage fatigues and carrying a weapon in his lap, appeared in a video on Al Jazeera satellite television denouncing his “enemies,” Jordan and America. Mr. Balawi's father, Khaled, confirmed that the man in the video was son.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, greets U.S. Army Spc. Dennis Morgan, Jr., and Autumn Gustausen during a departure ceremony for Vermont National Guard in Burlington, Vt., Jan. 8, 2010. Morgan is deploying for a year long tour to Afghanistan as a member of the 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley/Released) Date Posted: 1/8/2010

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen talks with Jon Stewart before an interview on ?The Daily Show? in New York Jan. 6, 2010. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley, U.S. Navy/Released) Date Posted: 1/7/2010

British soldiers attached to 27 Squadron, Royal Air Force Regiment sleep in an Afghan mud hut at Patrol Base Centurion near Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2010. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Efren Lopez/Released) Date Posted: 1/6/2010

British soldiers attached to B Flight, 27 Squadron, Royal Air Force Regiment visit Patrol Base East, Kandahar province, Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2010. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Efren Lopez/Released) Date Posted: 1/6/2010

British soldiers attached to B Flight, 27 Squadron, Royal Air Force Regiment depart on a combat mission near Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2010. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Efren Lopez/Released) Date Posted: 1/6/2010

British soldiers attached to B Flight, 27 Squadron Royal Air Force Regiment take a break while on a combat mission near Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, Jan. 2, 2010. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Efren Lopez/Released) Date Posted: 1/6/2010

U.S. Airmen greet Lt. Col. Michael Millen, an A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft pilot with the 354th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron (EFS), after he completes the squadron's 10,000th flying hour Jan. 1, 2010, at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. Airmen from the 354th EFS have logged more than 10,000 flight hours and 2,500 sorties during their six-month tour in Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Efren Lopez/Released) Date Posted: 1/4/2010

U.S. Marines with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment climb a mountain in the Now Zad Valley of Afghanistan Jan. 1, 2010, to watch the surrounding area for enemy activity. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Daniel M. Moman/Released) Date Posted: 1/5/2010

U.S. Marines with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment and the unit's female engagement team (FET) stop to talk to an Afghan child while patrolling Khwaja Jamal, Afghanistan, Dec. 29, 2009. Marines with the FET meet with and speak to Afghan women. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Albert F. Hunt/Released) Date Posted: 1/5/2010

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Susana Craig, of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment's female engagement team (FET), talks to an Afghan boy during a patrol in Khwaja Jamal, Afghanistan, Dec. 29, 2009. Afghan women and children may be more comfortable speaking with Marines in the FET. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Cpl. Albert F. Hunt/Released) Date Posted: 1/7/2010

U.S. Marines with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment enter Combat Outpost Changalok, Afghanistan, Dec. 26, 2009. The Marines are in the area to provide security and develop relationships with the local population. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Daniel M. Moman/Released) Date Posted: 12/30/2009

The CIA Mourns Its Fallen Officers

The victims there included the unidentified chief of the post at FOB Chapman, a mother of three young children, as well as two contract employees of Xe (formerly known as Blackwater), and four CIA employees whose families have released their names: Harold E. Brown Jr. of Massachusetts, 37; Scott Michael Roberson of Ohio, 39, a former U.S. Navy Seal; and Jeremy Wise of Arkansas, 35. Brown left behind his college-sweetheart wife and three children. Roberson was a security officer new to the agency, whose wife is due to give birth to their first child next month. Wise, who is survived by a wife and young son, was memorialized in a Facebook posting. Another slain CIA officer was Elizabeth Hanson, 31, an Illinois native and a 2001 graduate of Colby College. A family friend posted notice of her death to friends on Facebook, describing Hanson as "effervescent" and "vibrant."

This 1997 photo released Thursday, Jan. 7, 2010, by Keith Country Day School shows Elizabeth Hanson. Hanson is one of the seven CIA employees killed in a suicide bombing at a remote base near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Hanson, 30, along with the other CIA employees died Dec. 30 in Khost after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device. AP

Father: Duane Hanson II, Rockford, IL

From US Search

Military medical staff attempt to save the life of an Afghan man who was wounded in fighting on January 7, 2010 at the trauma bay at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Salerno in Khost, Afghanistan. By 9:00 pm today ten casualties, including two Americans wounded, were brought to the hospital at Salerno while three Afghans died in the trauma bay. Getty

After an Afghan man who was wounded in fighting today died of his injuries in the room, military medical staff mop-up the blood on the floor while cleaning and gathering the equipment on January 7, 2010 at the trauma bay at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Salerno in Khost, Afghanistan. By 9:00 pm today ten casualties, including two Americans wounded, were brought to the hospital at Salerno while three Afghans died in the trauma bay. The casualties where from fighting and a suicide bombing in Garbuz. Getty

Defne Bayrak, the Turkish wife of Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, talks to media members in Istanbul January 7, 2010. Bayrak, wife of a double agent who killed seven CIA officers in a suicide attack in Afghanistan, said she thought her husband was in Afghanistan to pursue his medical studies and that she was shocked at news of his death. Bayrak told Turkish media she learned that her husband had blown himself up at a U.S. base in Afghanistan on Dec. 30 after receiving a phone call from one of his friends in Pakistan. Reuters

In this photo taken from english. aljazeera. net, Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi is shown. Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, a 36-year old doctor from Zarqa, Jordan, is a suspected Jordanian double agent who killed seven CIA officers in Afghanistan on Dec. 30, 2009. AP

Dane Paresi, left, and Jeremy Wise were among the seven C.I.A. operatives killed on Dec. 30, 2009, by a suicide bomber at Forward Operating Base Chapman near Khost, Afghanistan. (Courtesy The Paresi Family/Facebook)

In this undated photo provided by Amy Messner, Scott Michael Roberson is seen. Roberson, 39, was working as a security officer for the CIA when the blast on Dec. 30, 2009 rocked the remote outpost in Khost province in Afghanistan, said his sister, Amy Messner of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. AP

In this undated detail of a photo provided by the Brown family via The Worcester Telegram and Gazette newspaper, Harold E. Brown Jr. , of Fairfax, Va. , is seen. According to his father, Harold E. Brown Sr. , of Bolton, Mass. , Brown Jr. was among eight Americans killed in a suicide bomber attack at a military base in Afghanistan on Dec. 30, 2009. AP

U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion 4th Marines, watch TV and play pool on base Delaram in Nimroz province, southern Afghanistan January 7, 2010. Reuters

U.S. senator John Thune listens to a question during a press conference at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2010. Joseph Lieberman and John McCain, U.S. senators visiting Afghanistan, say that American drone strikes just over the border in Pakistan are critical in defeating terrorists in the region. AP

Aldo Magazzeni smiles in Afghanistan's Panjsher Valley in this undated 2005 handout photo. During the last five years, the 60-year-old co-owner of a New Jersey manufacturing firm has arranged for some 75,000 people in remote areas of Afghanistan to be connected to community water systems. His efforts helped to end the toil of fetching water and to reduce water-borne diseases, particularly among children. To match Reuters Life! AFGHANISTAN-WATER. Reuters

Tana Murray, right, and her daughter Rebeka Murray console each other as friend Ginger Adeimy, left, watch the airplane departure of the 178th Field Artillery Battalion, South Carolina Army National Guard at Eagle Aviation in Columbia, S.C. , Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010. Tana's husband and Rebeka's father, 1st Sgt. Jimmy C. Murray and his battalion is deploying in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, to provide security for Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan. The soldiers will travel to Camp Atterbury, Ind. , to complete their mission preparation before deploying overseas. AP

Members of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 110th Infantry assemble at the Hunt Armory in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010. The soldiers are leaving to train for about five weeks at Camp Atterbury, Ind. , before departing for Afghanistan, where they will serve as security for Provincial Reconstruction Teams. AP

A soldier with the U.S. Army Florida National Guard of the 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team waves to family and friends as he walks up a ramp to board a plane during a deployment ceremony on January 5, 2010 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The ceremony, honoring the Florida National Guard?s 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment, is the first in a series of company-level and battalion-level deployment ceremonies taking place this week throughout the Florida. The event honored 600 of the nearly 2,500 members of the Florida National Guard's 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team who are being deployed to Kuwait and Iraq, the largest single-unit deployment of Florida National Guard since World War II. Getty

Family and friends of Army Spc. Jason Johnston, a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg, N.C. , watch as his casket is placed into a hearse outside of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Albion, N.Y. , Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010. Johnston, 24, of Albion, N.Y. , died Dec. 26, 2009 of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. AP

Family members of Corporal Zachery McCormack approach the hearse carrying his casket at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ontario January 3, 2010. Corporal McCormack's body arrived home to Canada with three other Canadian soldiers and journalist Michelle Lang. All five died when an improvised explosive device detonated near their armored vehicle south of Kandahar City, Afghanistan December 30, 2009. Reuters

Family members of Sergeant George Miok are escorted to a hearse carrying his casket at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ontario January 3, 2010. Sergeant Miok's body arrived home to Canada with three other Canadian soldiers and journalist Michelle Lang. All five died when an improvised explosive device detonated near their armored vehicle south of Kandahar City, Afghanistan December 30 2009. Reuters

Family members of Private Garrett William Chidley approach the hearse carrying his casket at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ontario January 3, 2010. Private Chidley's body arrived home to Canada with three other Canadian soldiers and journalist Michelle Lang. All five died when an improvised explosive device detonated near their armored vehicle south of Kandahar City, Afghanistan December 30, 2009. Reuters

Family members of late journalist Michelle Lang are escorted to a hearse carrying her casket at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ontario January 3, 2010. Lang's body arrived home to Canada with four Canadian soldiers she died with, when an improvised explosive device detonated near their armored vehicle, south of Kandahar City, Afghanistan December 30, 2009. Reuters

Canadian Capt. Yves Desbiens, a media liaison officer, sorts and catalogs the personal effects of slain Canadian journalist Michelle Lang in the media tent at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010. Desbiens helped arrange the excursion for Lang in which she and four soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb on Dec. 30, 2009. AP

The 82nd Airborne troops below were based at FOB Chapman where seven CIA officers (and Brown, above) were killed recently.

US Army (USA) Soldiers assigned to Charlie/Company, 3-505th Infantry Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division, searches caves found during a Sensitive Site Exploration mission near the village of Kahrkia Kalay, located outside of Khowst, Afghanistan, during Exercise Alamo Sweep. Photographer's Name: SPC ERIC E. HUGHES, USA. Date Shot: 10/4/2002. Date Posted: unknown

US Army (USA) Soldiers assigned to Bravo Company, 3-505th Infantry Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division, walk to the next objective during a Sensitive Site Exploration mission conducted in a local village located outside Khowst, Afghanistan, during Exercise Alamo Sweep. Photographer's Name: SPC ERIC E. HUGHES, USA. Date Shot: 9/29/2002. Date Posted: unknown

US Army (USA) Soldiers assigned to Bravo Company, 3-505th Infantry Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division, prepare to board a USA UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter after conducting a Sensitive Site Exploration mission in a local village located outside Khowst, Afghanistan, during Exercise Alamo Sweep. Photographer's Name: SPC ERIC E. HUGHES, USA. Date Shot: 9/29/2002. Date Posted: unknown [Red lens of an anti-missile infra-red countermeasure device atop the chopper.]

US Army (USA) 82nd Airborne Division Soldiers prepare a convoy of High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV) for a ground assault mission at Khowst, Afghanistan, during Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. Photographer's Name: SPC ERIC E. HUGHES, USA. Date Shot: 9/3/2002. Date Posted: unknown

US Army (USA) Soldiers assigned to 1st Battalion, 505th and 1st Battalion 504th, Parachute Infantry Regiments, 82nd Airborne Division, assemble around their convoy of heavily armed High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV), after arriving at a safe house at the town of Khowst, Afghanistan, to prepare for Operation Mountain Sweep. Operation Mountain Sweep is the largest US Offensive in Afghanistan since Operation Anaconda. Photographer's Name: SPC PATRICK THARPE, USA. Date Shot: 8/19/2002. Date Posted: unknown

U.S. Army Captain Samuel Brown salutes during a ceremony to disband the Multinational Force Iraq and to introduce the U.S. Force Iraq at Camp Victory in Baghdad January 1, 2010. Brown suffered burns to 30 percent of his body after being struck by an IED while serving with the 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division in Kandahar, Afghanistan in September 2008. The San Antonio native is in Iraq to visit his wife Captain Robin Brown and to take part in the"Operation Proper Exit" program which helps combat veterans heal emotional wounds. Reuters

Canadian soldiers stand in front of the transfer cases of four Canadian soldiers and a journalist before a dignified transfer ceremony at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan on Friday, Jan. 1, 2010. The Taliban are claiming responsibility for the roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan that killed the four Canadian soldiers and journalist Michelle Lang, who was embedded in their unit. AP