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| December 30, 2009 |
Afghanistan, December, 2009
The first waves of President Obama's announced "surge" of up to 30,000 more U.S. troops made their way to Afghanistan this month. The troops will be joined by a smaller but important "civilian surge", bumping the number of U.S. civilians serving one-year tours in Afghanistan up from the current level of 1,000 to 1,300 within the next six months. The civilians will be tasked with helping to strengthen and rebuild much Afghanistan's society, with projects planned in finance, agriculture, health care and much more. Collected here are images of the country and conflict over the past month, part of an ongoing monthly series on Afghanistan. (43 photos total)
Afghans ride a motorcycle past United States Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines "Warlords", not seen, during an operation to hunt for insurgents following an exchange of fire in the Garmsir district of the volatile Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Sunday, Dec. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
Marine LCpl. James Harris of Michigan from the 2nd Battalion 2nd Marines "Warlords" guards a position as sheep pass by during a meeting of the Marines, local government officials, and villagers in the Garmsir district of Helmand province, Afghanistan on Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer) #
An Afghan man carries his son, whose body is rigid from tetanus, to a MEDEVAC helicopter behind flight medic Sgt. Aaron Burrows of Amarillo, Texas with C Company Dustoff 3rd Battalion of the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade 82nd Airborne Division on December 17, 2009 near Delhi, Afghanistan. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) #
An Afghan man comforts his son after he was brought into Alpha Surgical Company field trauma hospital for treatment of tetanus at Camp Dwyer by a MEDEVAC helicopter December 17, 2009 near Delhi, Afghanistan. The hospital is tasked with treating sick and wounded coalition forces and local nationals in Helmand Province. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) #
U.S. Army chaplain Father Carl Subler from Versailles, Ohio holds a Catholic mass on a helicopter landing pad as soldiers wait to catch a flight late on a cold evening at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Wolverine on December 12, 2009 near Qalat, Afghanistan. Most the soldiers on the landing pad were infantry soldiers with 4th Battalion 5th Stryker Brigade waiting to return home for a two-week leave which they are required to take during their yearlong deployment to Afghanistan. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) #
Victoria Chant weeps as the coffin of her father, British soldier Darren Chant, is carried out of the Guard's Chapel following his funeral in London December 1, 2009. Warrant Officer Chant, Regimental Sergeant Major, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, was killed on duty in Afghanistan on November 3. (REUTERS/Toby Melville) #
A young boy runs after an apparent suicide car bomb was detonated in front of the Heetal Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009. The midmorning attack in Kabul's congested Wazir Akbar Khan district near the home of former Afghan Vice President Ahmad Zia Massoud in Kabul killed eight people and wounded 40 others. Neither Massoud nor any of the hotel guests were among the dead or wounded. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills) #
An honor guard carries the casket of Lieutenant Andrew R. Nuttall to a waiting hearse 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. (REUTERS/Fred Thornhill) #
Afghan children wait in line to enter the skateboarding park in Kabul December 29, 2009. "Skateistan", Afghanistan's first skateboarding park and school recently opened in Kabul 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/ Marko Djurica) #
A US Marine poses for a portrait for People Magazine, December 15, 2009, shortly before he leaves for deployment to Afghanistan. About 200 Marines from the 1st Battalion, 6th Regiment departed early on Wednesday morning - part of the first wave of US President Barack Obama's surge of 30,000 troops designed to shift the balance against Taliban insurgents. (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images) #
Afghan children watch soldiers from first Batallion, 32nd infantry Regiment 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain division patrolling at Shigal village in Kunar province eastern Afghanistan on December 7, 2009. A convoy heading to the village to talk elders and they came under attack from small arm fire and Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG). (TAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP/Getty Images) #
Afghan horsemen play "Buzkashi" December 4, 2009 in the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. Buzkashi, which translates as "goat grabbing", is the national sport of Afghanistan. The object of the game is to try to snatch the goat carcass in the field and carry it to the scoring area. The fiercely contested sport can sometimes last several days. (Majid Saeedi/Getty Images) #
A soldier with the Afghan National Army, keeps a picture of Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor taped to his rifle at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Rushmore on November 28, 2009 near Sharan, Afghanistan. Only a small number of Afghan soldiers remained at the FOB, which is shared by U.S. Soldiers and Afghan National Security Forces, most had travelled home to be with their families for the three-day Eid al-Adha holiday. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) #
Afghan Shiites flagellate themselves during Ashoura in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2009, as a way of publicly demonstrating their grief and commemorating the sacrifice of Imam Hussein, grandson of the prophet Muhammad, killed over 1,300 years ago in the Battle of Karbala. (AP Photo/Farzana Wahidy) #
An Afghan policewoman takes pictures during a graduation ceremony after eight weeks of training at a police academy in Kabul, Afghanistan on December 17, 2009. Only about 500 Afghan women work as active duty officers, compared with about 92,500 policemen, most of them in relatively safe areas like Kabul and northern Herat province, according to Interior Ministry figures. The government has a target of 5,000 women serving as officers or civilian police workers by 2014. (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic) #
Soldiers from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, also called "The Old Guard," conduct military honors during the burial ceremony for U.S. Army Specialist Gary Gooch at Arlington National Cemetery December 10, 2009 in Arlington, Virginia. Gooch, 22, of Ocala, Florida, was killed November 5 when his vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) #
A child watches as a landmine victim gazes into a mirror at the International Red Cross Orthopedic (ICRC) rehabilitation center on December 10, 2009 in Kabul, Afghanistan. The ICRC rehabilitation center works to educate and rehabilitate landmine victims and those with limb related deformities back into society and employment. The UN mine information network estimates there are approximately 62 people killed or injured by mines each month in the country. (Majid Saeedi/Getty Images) #
People chant anti-American slogans and burn an effigy of U.S. President Barack Obama in Jalalabad, south Afghanistan, Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2009 during a protest against the recent killings of 10 civilians allegedly by the coalition forces in Kunar province. The head of a presidential delegation investigating the deaths of 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 Photo/Rahmat Gul) #
More links and information
Skateistan - A Non-governmental agency, running Afghanistan's first co-educational skateboarding school
How Obama Came to Plan for 'Surge' in Afghanistan - NYTimes.com, 12/5
Attack Puts Afghan Leader and NATO at Odds - NYTimes.com, 12/28
Civilians Train in 'Afghan City' in the Midwest - NYTimes.com, 12/20