A United States gun crew fire illumination rounds at Forward Operating Base Hadrian. The 1st Section Bravo Battery 1-9 Field Artillery from Fort Stewart Georgia, have been conducting intensive training and fire missions to support operations in Uruzgan province, Afghanistan. The gunners, based out of Forward Operating Base Hadrian in Deh Rawud district, are tasked with providing offensive support to Combined Team Uruzgan missions using M777 A2 Howitzers. #

An Afghan local policeman listens to speeches during a graduation ceremony in Herat west of Kabul, on January 10, 2013. Around 250 police security forces including 10 policewomen officers and 50 local policemen graduated after receiving six months of training at a police training center in Herat. #

Senior Airman Hugo Garcia, 455th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron non-destructive inspection lab journeyman, pours magnetic particles over an A-10 wheel bolt at Bagram Air Field, on January 21, 2013. A magnetic particle solution is used to fill any cracks in a suspected damaged piece of equipment which will then glow under a black light to determine whether it is damaged. #

A victim at the scene of a suicide car bomb attack in Kabul, on January 16, 2013. Six militants -- one driving a car packed with explosives -- attacked the gate of the Afghan intelligence service in the capital Kabul on Wednesday, setting off a blast that could be heard throughout downtown and which sent a plume of dark smoke rising into the sky. #

An Afghan truck driver peers through the broken windshield of his vehicle at the site of a suicide attack near the Afghan intelligence agency headquarters in Kabul, on January 16, 2013. #

A wounded Afghan boy, at the site of a car bomb attack in Kabul, on January 16, 2013. A car bomb exploded in front of the gates of the Afghan intelligence agency on Wednesday, Reuters witnesses said, near heavily barricaded government buildings and Western embassies. #

An Afghan National Army soldier, assigned to 1st Kandak, 4th Brigade, 201st Corps, searches a local national for explosives and weapons during ANA clearing operations near Jalalabad, Nangarhar province, on January 15, 2013. #

An Afghan student practices playing the guitar in a class at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music in Kabul, on January 9, 2013. Dozens of Afghan teenagers including former street kids or orphans aged 10 to 22, will be playing in the Afghan Youth Orchestra which begins a 12-day U.S. tour on February 3 and includes concerts at Washington's Kennedy Center -- President Barrack Obama has been invited -- New York's Carnegie Hall and the New England Conservatory in Boston. #

A member of a U.S. Army Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) team patrols a patch of farm land during a mission near Command Outpost AJK (short for Azim-Jan-Kariz, a nearby village) in Maiwand District, Kandahar Province, on January 30, 2013. #

A Pakistani fireman extinguishes burning NATO supply truck in Quetta on January 11, 2013, after unidentified men fired rockets on NATO containers carrying goods for international troops operating in Afghanistan, killing one person and destroying at least five vehicles in the Hazar Ganji area on the outskirts of Quetta. #

Six UH-60L Black Hawks and two CH-47F Chinooks, assigned to Task Force Brawler, 4th Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, Task Force Falcon, simultaneously launch a daytime mission on January 18, 2013, from Multinational Base Tarin Kowt. #

A 10-year-old girl injured by an improvised explosive device waits for a helicopter to evacuate her for further medical attention from strong point DeMaiwand, Maywand District, Kandahar Province, on January 18, 2013. The IED also injured a 25-year-old man, who had both legs blown off. #

Afghan midwives attend their graduation ceremony at the governor's house, in Jalalabad east of Kabul, on January 16, 2013. Over 52 midwives graduated after receiving 2 year of training in Jalalabad. #

Members of the Afghan National Security Forces wait for U.S. troops before the detonation of confiscated IEDs near Combat Outpost Hutal in Maiwand District, on January 21, 2013. #

Afghan day labourers skin cow heads in Kabul, on February 4, 2013. Over a third of Afghans are living in abject poverty, as those in power are more concerned about addressing their vested interests rather than the basic needs of the population, a UN report said. #

Black smoke billows from the Afghan police headquarters during an attack in Kabul on January 21, 2013. NATO troops joined a fight against a Taliban suicide squad that stormed a Kabul police headquarters, unleashing a stand-off that lasted for more than eight hours. #

Afghan security force members look through a broken window after a clash between Afghan forces and Taliban fighters in Kabul, on January 21, 2013. NATO troops joined a fight against a Taliban suicide squad that stormed a Kabul police headquarters at dawn on January 21, killing three police officers. The Taliban claimed the attack, which turned into the longest stand-off between the insurgents and security forces in Kabul since a major coordinated raid on the capital lasted 18 hours in April last year. #

An Afghan and coalition security force provide security during a mission that detained six Taliban insurgents in Nerkh district, on January 14, 2013. The detained Taliban leader facilitated the movement of weapons and IED materials to insurgents throughout Wardak province. #

A man hold his bleeding dog after a dog fighting match in Jalalabad, on January 25, 2013. Dog fighting is a popular pastime among Afghans during the winter season as public matches are held every Friday, which is the official weekly holiday in the country. #

A civilian-owned Mil-8 helicopter lifts off after U.S. Army Sgt. Rachel Barrett, a combat medic with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 626th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade "Rakkasans," 101st Airborne Division, attached its cargo via sling load at Forward Operating Base Salerno, on January 9, 2013. Sling load operations are used to get supplies and equipment to smaller, less accessible combat outposts. #

Afghan journalists and policemen at the site of a blast in Mazar-i Sharif, on January 24, 2013. A landmine exploded on a street near the US consulate in the capital of the northern province Balkh leaving an Afghan guard wounded, Afghan officials said. #

An Afghan man, one of a group gathered by the Afghan Uniform Police, is finger-printed and photographed for registration by U.S. troops outside Command Outpost AJK in Kandahar Province, on January 27, 2013. #

Afghan youths play in the snow in Kabul, on February 4, 2013. As winter sets in across Central Asia, many Afghans struggle to provide adequate food and shelter for their families. #

Sergeant Scott Weaver, of The Queens Royal Lancers launches a newly issued Black Hornet miniature surveillance helicopter during an operation in Afghanistan. The Scandinavian-designed Black Hornet Nano weighs as little as 16 grams (0.56 ounces) -- the same as a finch. The four-inch-long (10-centimeter-long) helicopter is fitted with a tiny camera which relays still images and video to a remote terminal. Troops used the drone to look for insurgent firing points and check out exposed areas of the ground before crossing. #

Latifa Azizi waits with other performers to perform in the "Afghan star" talent show in Kabul, on January 23, 2013. Azizi and her family fled Mazar for the Afghan capital, Kabul, soon after she appeared on the show in November. Her community was angry with her appearance, saying it was un-Islamic for a woman to sing and appear on television. The family began to receive death threats. #

U.S. Army soldiers carry the flag-draped transfer case containing the remains of U.S. Army Sgt. David J. Chambers, during a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base, on January 19, 2013 in Dover, Delaware. Chambers, who was from Hampton, Virginia, was killed while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. #