An Afghan man leads a donkey carrying his wife at the Shahr-e-Gholghola on a hilltop overlooking Bamiyan province on Nov. 9, 2009. Bamiyan, located some 200 kilometres northwest of Kabul, stands in a deep green and lush valley stretching through central Afghanistan, on the former Silk Road that once linked China to Central Asia and beyond.
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Afghan spectators pour water onto a pair of duelling dogs during a dog fighting match in Kabul on Jan. 2, 2009. Previously, outlawed under Taliban rule, dog-fighting is now legal and very popular in Afghanistan. From November to March, thousands of Afghans gather on the western outskirts of Kabul each Friday to watch the spectacle.
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Afghan Shiite men beat themselves with chains and blades during a Muslim ritual part of Ashura celebrations in Kabul on Jan. 7, 2008. Shiites, in crowds numbering in the hundreds, crowd the streets of Kabul during the annual Ashura ceremonies. Ashura is a period of mourning in remembrance of the seven-century martyrdom of Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussein who was killed in a battle in Karbala in Iraq, in 680 AD.
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Afghans leave after receiving donations in Kabul on Jan. 23, 2009.
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A burqa-clad Afghan woman walks past an elderly man sitting in the sunshine in the old city of Kabul on Jan. 29, 2009.
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A young girl who lost her arm during a U.S. attack watches her father pray at a refugee camp on Feb. 12, 2009 in Kabul, Afghanistan.
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Afghans walk down a snowy street during a snowstorm in Kabul on Feb. 13, 2009.
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In this picture taken on Feb. 7, 2009, U.S. soldiers talk with Afghan children during a patrol in the village of Narizah in Khost province, southeast of Kabul.
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Afghan men walk among the remains of Russian military vehicles on the outskirts of Kabul on Feb. 14, 2009 on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Soviet troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
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A young Afghan girl waits in a line for distribution of food by the Afghan National Army during a Civil Military Cooperation operation in Dawlatkhel on Feb. 16, 2009.
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A U.S. Army soldier with the 1-6 Field Artillery division takes a retina scan of an Afghan man while patrolling an area in Gandalabog, Afghanistan on Feb. 18, 2009.
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A member of the U.S. Army 1-6 Field Artillery division rests on his vehicle while conducting a joint military exercise with the Afghan National Army on Feb. 23, 2009 in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan.
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U.S. soldiers sit inside a plane at a U.S. airbase outside Bishkek in Manas on February 26, 2009. The soldiers, who had been serving with ISAF forces in Afghanistan, make a layover on their way to Germany.
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A man holds his child in the morning chill as the U.S. Army 1-6 Field Artillery division patrols his village on Feb. 26, 2009 in Pigal, Afghanistan.
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A set of security lights illuminate the landscape at Bagram Air Base on March 2, 2009 in Bagram, Afghanistan.
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Afghans beg for alms near a shrine on the ruins of the ancient city of Balkh, located outside the northern Afghan town of Mazar-i-Sharif, on March 22, 2009. Once known as the "mother of cities," the ancient city of Balkh was a popular destination along the ancient Silk Route.
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An Afghan man pulls a cart as his young brother helps during a rainy day in Kabul on April 1, 2009.
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U.S. Marines fire 120mm mortars on Taliban positions on April 3, 2009 in Now Zad in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
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Afghan policemen at a police station in Naray, in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province on April 13, 2009.
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An Afghan boy watches U.S. soldiers on patrol in Naray, in the eastern Kunar province on April 13, 2009.
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Angry Shiite Muslims shout in defence of the new Shiite Personal Status Law in Kabul on April 15, 2009.
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An Afghan man rides his bicycle loaded with plastic watering cans in front of the war-damaged Darlaman Palace in the west of Kabul on May 5, 2009.
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Newly-graduated Afghan National Army soldiers sit during a graduation ceremony of about 1,100 officers and soldiers at the Afghan National Army training center in Kabul on May 7, 2009.
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Winner of the Mr. Afghanistan contest, Shukrullah from the Helmand province, flexes his muscles for the judges during the competition in Kabul on June 2, 2009. Under the Taliban regime, the Mr. Afghanistan contest was banned as sportsmen were forbidden to appear partially naked in public.
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An Afghan vendor arranges mangoes for his customers in Kabul on June 4, 2009.
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A worker pressure washes parts on a U.S. CH-47 Chinook helicopter on June 25, 2009 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The helicopter is part of the 3rd Battalion of the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade which is providing air support for troops fighting Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan.
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Afghan potter Khiyal Mohammad, works at his craft in the Shomali plains, north of Kabul on June 30, 2009.
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U.S. Marines from 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, RCT 2nd Battalion 8th Marines Echo Co. try to find a target that was reported to be crossing a field on July 4, 2009 in Mian Poshteh, Afghanistan.
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U.S. Marines from 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, RCT 2nd Battalion 8th Marines Echo Co. meet with Afghan villagers who returned to the area in Mian Poshteh, Afghanistan after the Marines drove Taliban fighters from the center of the village on July 5, 2009.
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An elderly Afghan man walks in the old city of Kabul on July 6, 2009.
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A U.S. Marine wears a belt of ammunition around his neck on July 6, 2009 in Mian Poshteh, Afghanistan.
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Afghan farmers harvest their wheat crop in a field in the Shomali plains, about 30 kms north of Kabul on July 8, 2009.
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A man stands on the river bank in the village of Garm, some 250km from Dushanbe, on July 12, 2009.
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An Afghan Kochi tribesman holds a picture of former Afghan finance minister and then-presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai during an election campaign rally in Kabul on July 23, 2009.
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Afghan brides sit during a mass marriage ceremony of 50 Afghan couples in Herat province on Aug. 7, 2009.
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An Afghan gets searched by an Afghan National Police Officer on Aug. 13, 2009 at a checkpoint in the outskirds of Kandahar City, Afghanistan.
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An Afghan man rubs his eyes waiting for his breakfast at a tea house decorated with pictures of provincial election candidates in the old city of Herat on Aug. 16, 2009.
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Afghan drug addicts smoke heroin and crystal meth in the ruins of the old city of Herat on Aug. 18, 2009.
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Swan paddle boats sit at the edge of one of the six lakes that make up Band-E-Amir National Park on Sept. 6, 2009. Located in the province of the Bamiyan Buddhas, in central Afghanistan, the park was declared Afghanistan's first National Park on April 22, 2009. Its designation as a National Park will allow Afghanistan to apply for international recognition of Band-e-Amir as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Band-e-Amir has been a destination for Afghan tourists since at least the early 1950s, but tourism significantly declined during the 20 years of wars and Taliban rule.
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A policeman of the Afghan National Police controls traffic at a checkpoint in Kabul on Oct. 11, 2009.
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Pupils sitting on the floor listen to their teacher on Oct. 11, 2009 at Nasoana school in Kabul, where some 3,500 pupils attend lessons. The school is mainly made of tents, or rooms with missing windows and no heating.
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An Afghan man drives a horse cart to pick up bricks ready for firing in the brick oven on Nov. 6, 2009 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Brick factories are an economical, business that is still thriving. The land used is dry and barren which is perfect for the making of bricks providing work almost all the year round. A few years ago all factories changed from wood to coal causing further problems with pollution, the factories have been pushed out of the city limits because of this issue.
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An Afghan boy works with other young laborers loading bricks onto a truck on Oct. 16, 2009 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Child labor is common at the brick factories where the parents already employed and desperate to make more money enlist their children to help doing the easy jobs.
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An Afghan boy flies a kite in a cemetery.
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Afghan women harvest tomatoes after farm crops were damaged by a spell of cold weather in Badam Bagh farm run by the private National Organization of Women and funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development on the outskirts of Kabul on Oct. 26, 2009.
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A man passes by Darul-Aman palace Oct. 31, 2009 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Darul-Aman Palace was once the masterpiece of Kabul built by King Amanullah in the 1920s but today lies in ruins after years of unrest in the country.
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Afghan horsemen compete for the goat carcass during a game of Buzkashi in Kabul on Nov. 6, 2009. The ancient game of Buzkashi is an Afghan national sport which is played between two teams of horsemen competing to throw a goat carcass into a scoring circle.
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Afghan soldiers are armed with U.S.-made M16 rifles as they take part in combat training at the Afghan National Army training camp on the outskirts of Kabul on Dec. 28, 2009.
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French soldiers walk on a hilltop near the Tora French Military Camp in Surobi district in Kabul province on Dec. 15, 2009.
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