AFGHANISTAN

MARCH 2010

Near the Kart-e-Sakhi shrine in Kabul, an Afghan girl passes by as a helicopter flies over during the celebration of Nowruz, the start of spring and the traditional New Year celebrated in Afghanistan, Iran and other countries of central Asia, on Sunday, March 21, 2010

An Afghan National Army helicopter flies over people celebrating Nowruz, at the Kart-e-Sakhi shrinein Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday, March 21, 2010

Afghan police control the crowd during the celebration of Nowruz in Kabul on March 21, 2010. Afghanistan uses the Persian calendar, which runs from the vernal equinox. The current Persian year is 1389

Afghan women pack the Imam Ali's shrine during their celebration of Afghan New Year in Mazar-I-Sharif, Balkh province north of Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday, March 21, 2010

A man dances during the celebration of Nowruz, near the Kart-e-Sakhi shrine in Kabul, Afghanistan on March 21, 2010

A man enjoys a swing during celebrations of Nowruz in Kabul on March 21, 2010

Afghans carry a man injured in an explosion in Khost, south of Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday, March 21, 2010. Two other civilians died and four were wounded when a roadside bomb went off near a crowd of people celebrating the Afghan New Year at a mountaintop shrine in eastern Afghanistan.

The landscape of Afghanistan is photographed from an MI-17 tactical helicopter during a battlefield circulation across Southern Afghanistan, March 4, 2010

U.S. Army soldiers point out the position of Taliban insurgents after an attack on March 15, 2010 at Howz-e-Madad in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. A joint patrol of American soldiers from Attack Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment and Afghan Army troops had been on a recon mission when they were fired on from multiple directions

U.S. Army Task Force Pegasus flight medic Sgt. Nathaniel Dabney, second from right, leads U.S. Marines carrying a wounded comrade to a waiting medevac helicopter, during an ongoing firefight in Helmand province, Afghanistan on March 2, 2010

A U.S. Army soldier with the 293D Military Police Company, 97th Military Police Battalion, looks through the scope of his rifle from the top of an abandoned grain elevator building during patrol on the outskirts of the town of Kandahar, southern Afghanistan March 21, 2010

A U.S. Marine Corps V-22 Osprey aircraft takes off from Forward Operating Base Cafferata in Afghanistanon March 9, 2010

President Barack Obama rallies troops and military personnel during a visit to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, Sunday, March 28, 2010

Afghan boys watch as unseen US Marines of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, search their farm house during a 24-hour foot operation in a poppy field area in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on March 19, 2010. A total of 60 farms were searched and nothing suspected was found

A Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) armoured vehicle of the Army National Guard 162 Engineer Company attached with 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion of U.S. Marine Corps drives ahead of a convoy delivering supplies to the remote U.S. Marine base in Helmand province on March 6, 2010

An Afghan woman waits with her son to see a doctor Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at the Kandahar Regional Military Hospital near Kandahar, Afghanistan.

The destroyed Tajbeg Palace sits on a hilltop above Kabul, seen near the U.S. military's Camp Darulaman inKabul province, Afghanistan on March 10, 2010.

An Afghan policeman looks at remains of an attacker who blew himself up after storming an abandoned government building in Khost, east of Kabul on Monday, March 8, 2010.

An Afghan national who is a possible suspect is detained in one of the U.S. Marines compounds, in Marjah district, Helmand province, March 29, 2010.

A US Marines questions an Afghan man while on a mission near Khan Neshin, southern Helmand provinceon March 13, 2010.

A US Marine of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, holds a dog tag of a fallen comrade as he gives his final respectsduring a memorial ceremony for four fallen comrades, at their base in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on March 26, 2010. US Marines Lance Corporals Alejandro Yazzie and Matthias Hanson and Private First Classes Eric Currier and Kyle Coutu were killed in action between February 16th and February 21st during the recent US Marines-led offensive against Taliban insurgency in Marjah

U.S. Army Spc. Benjamin McCune, 21, calls from a hospital bed to tell his family that he was wounded on March 22, 2010 at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. The 82nd Airborne soldier suffered back injuries when his armoured vehicle struck an IED in Kandahar province.

Houses cover the cityscape of Kabul, seen from the summit of the Bala Hissar, an ancient fortress overlooking Kabul March 20, 2010 in Kabul.

A US Marine of the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, washes his head in a canal in the early morning hours during a 24-hour foot operation in a poppy field area in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistanon March 19, 2010

A farmer works in a poppy field in Marjah on March 19, 2010. When U.S., Afghan and NATO forces stormed Marjah they were instructed to seize large opium stashes but leave farmers' poppy fields alone.

Afghan men and boys bathe in the hot room at a hammam on March 5, 2010 in Herat, Afghanistan. It is traditional for Afghans to visit the hammam on a Friday, the Muslim day of rest

An Afghan boy looks at a weapon used by a member of the Afghan National Army as they patrol with Marines from the 3rd Battalion 6th Marines around a market in northern Marjah, Helmand province, March 23, 2010. Taped to the weapon is a photograph of American race car driver Danica Patrick, taken from a promotional calendar.

Afghan rock band ‘Kabul Dreams’ play their instruments in the ruins of a castle in Kabul, Afghanistan. Kabul Dreams is made up of singer/guitarist Sulieman Qardash, bass player Siddique Ahmad and drummer Mujtaba Habibi, and they claim to be the country's first and only rock and roll group. The three speak different languages, Pashto, Dari and Uzbek, and decided to write their songs in English. The group is now working on their debut album. Photo taken on on January 14, 2010.

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