martien van asseldonk has added a photo to the pool: 2011-01-27 Kabul, Afghanistan

While fighting escalated in 2010, peace talks between the government and the Taliban rose to the top of the political agenda. Civilian casualties reached record levels, with increased insurgent activity across the country. An additional 30,000 United States troops increased international forces to more than 150,000. Endemic corruption and violence marred parliamentary elections in September 2010. NegotiationsThe Afghan government made greater efforts in 2010 to promote a negotiated settlement with the Taliban and Hezb-e Islami (Gulbuddin). In June a Consultative Peace Jirga brought together around 1,500 Afghan elders, politicians, and civil society representatives in Kabul. The government offered limited reassurances it would seek to protect the rights of Afghan women and religious and ethnic minorities during the peace process. In October a newly appointed High Level Peace Council drew criticism from a wide range of Afghan civil society organizations and human rights defenders becau...

jonesmrjones has added a photo to the pool: Went exploring around Tajbeg Palace

jonesmrjones has added a photo to the pool: Went exploring around Tajbeg Palace

peretzp has added a photo to the pool: Steve Brown ILC is on the left behind the tree.

DVIDSHUB has added a photo to the pool: A Chinook helicopter passes over an International Security Assistance Forces convoy in order to drop soldiers off outside Combat Outpost Johnston Jan. 31, in the Arghandab District. Soldiers are frequently transported by air throughout the battle space in order to fill the slots of other soldiers going on leave. 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs Photo by Spc. Breanne Pye Date Taken:01.31.2011 Location:ARGHANDAB, AF Related Photos: dvidshub.net/r/jy5zvy

Island-Life has added a photo to the pool: Every place I've visited in Afghanistan where children are present, they always want my pens. The boy in the picture above, he is holding one of the pens I gave him. Which version do you like better; the color or the BW? I like the color version better. Anyway, photo taken by me in Southern Afghanistan in 2010 using a Canon 7D with 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM.

OSProductions has added a photo to the pool:

OSProductions has added a photo to the pool:

KABUL 02 February 2011 (IRIN) - US-led international forces say they do not have stockpiles of cluster munitions in Afghanistan and have not used them in the war against Taliban insurgents since March 2002.

Hadi Zaher has added a photo to the pool: Refer to the Wikipedia Article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Band-e_Amir

Hadi Zaher has added a photo to the pool: The famous wall of Kabul is over 6 meters high and 3 meters thick. It formed part of an ancient fortress, apparently first constructed by pre-Islamic Hindu rulers of the city, it was subsequently used, destroyed and rebuilt by invaders and defenders of the city throughout the history.

The American Government has a history of acting out of ignorance. In Egypt, across the Middle East and throughout southern Asia, the United States, as part of its larger struggle with the Soviet Union, spent almost fifty years on a quest to crush all the local Communist party organizations. It largely succeeded. The Obama Administration now presumably wishes that those secular, organized and largely middle-class organizations had not been shattered. They represented amazing experiments in many countries because they successfully cut across tribal, religious and cultural boundaries, and promoted gender-equality. Despite the failure of their economic programs and their repressive features, many of their attempted social changes were truly revolutionary. The Americans, despite spending hundreds of billions of dollars on vast intelligence services at the CIA and within the Departments of State and Defense, were oblivious to the consequences of destroying these local Communist organizations...

peretzp has added a photo to the pool: So like no shit, there we were on an American base playing basketball and trash talking in Russian with our Afghan driver/translator Najib, inside an empty swimming pool, which was initially built by the Russians when this was their Army base and then used by the Taliban as an execution ground. You could see the bullet scars on ground, and the US soldiers would circle around us, doing their business, occasionally recovering our balls which had bounced out of the pool.

DVIDSHUB has added a photo to the pool: Marines and sailors with 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, paid respect to their fallen brothers at a memorial ceremony aboard Camp Leatherneck, Jan. 31. The memorial was held to honor Cpl. Jacob A. Tate, Lance Cpl. Joseph R. Giese, and Lance Cpl. Maung P. Htaik, all riflemen with Echo Company, 2/9 who were killed in action in Helmand province, Afghanistan. The short, quiet ceremony was marked by Bible verses and prayers honoring the fallen heroes. 1st Marine Division Photo by Cpl. Daniel Blatter Date Taken:01.31.2011 Location:CAMP LEATHERNECK, AF Related Photos: dvidshub.net/r/m3tvu8

Photo: Akmal Dawi/IRIN Winter makes life all the more miserable for the displacedKABUL, 1 February 2011 (IRIN) - Tens of thousands of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Afghanistan are vulnerable to cold-related diseases but have little or no access to health services, according to aid agencies. Over 350,000 IDPs, including about 155,000 people displaced by conflict since November 2009, are living in camps and informal settlements in different parts of the country, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says. Aanchal Khurana, a spokeswoman for the UN World Health Organization (WHO), said: WHO is concerned about the health problems that winter inadvertently brings for Afghans at large and to IDPs in particular. IDPs needs are heightened in the winter as the lack of adequate shelter, food and jobs aggravate their already dire health conditions, Lynn Yoshikawa, an official with US-based Refugees International told IRIN. Pneumonia, measles, frost bite and acu...