A girl practices martial arts with a sword at a Wushu training club.

A man injured in a Taliban attack is treated in Mirvays Hospital May. After the start of their annual spring offensive across the country, hundreds of Taliban militants have begun to try and overrun s...

A girl practices martial arts with a sword at a Wushu training club.

A bodybuilder hangs from a football goals' frame. Bodybuilding was frowned upon during Taliban rule and the participants had to wear loose fitting trousers and t-shirts during workouts and competitio...

A family at the Maslakh Refugee Camp which is located approximately 20km from Herat in remote western Afghanistan. The camp was once the largest in the country holding an estimated 350,000 people.

Women supporters of Afghan parliamentary election candidate Farkhunda Zahra Naderi (not pictured), daughter of Shia Ismaili Muslim leader Sayed Mansoor Naderi, during a campaign rally.

Shiites celebrate the birthday of the 12th Imam, Muhammad al Mahdi.

A class of girls using sign language to communicate at a school for the mute.

People sit outside a derelict house.

Afghan military soldiers train at the Afghan National Army (ANA) Academy in Kabul.

Afghan military soldiers train at the Afghan National Army (ANA) Academy in Kabul.

Afghan military soldiers train at the Afghan National Army (ANA) Academy in Kabul.

Afghan military officers parade at their graduation ceremony at the Afghan National Army (ANA) Academy.

A group of patients, at a treatment facility for people with mental health illness, eat a meal while crouched on the floor. Afghanistan's health services are among the world's worst, and its mental he...

A boy stands in an arcade in the Darul Aman Palace. The palace, originally built in the 1920s, has been damaged on many occasions during years of unrest and war in Afghanistan. The government desires...

An Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier walks though the Darul Aman Palace. The palace, originally built in the 1920s, has been damaged on many occasions during years of unrest and war in Afghanistan. T...

An internally displaced man with his children inside a derelict hut where they have found shelter in the capital.

Two girls reflected in a piece of broken mirror propped up against a window in a derelict hut where they live with their family.

Supporters of Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani take part in a parade through the streets of Herat.

Tour buses parked along the highway beside tiny Baishatun village from where a palanquin in which the goddess Mazu deity is to carried on a 200km pilgrimage which sets off at midnight from the 200 yea...

A statue of the goddess Mazu deity inside the 200 year old Taoist (Daoism) Gongtian Temple from where a palanquin carrying the deity will set off on a 200km pilgrimage route accompanied by many follow...

A great crowd gathers as the palanquin in which the goddess Mazu deity is carried on a 200km pilgrimage sets off at midnight from the 200 year old Taoist (Daoism) Gongtian Temple. The pilgrimage route...

Temple workers start swining the palanquin bearing the ancient goddess Mazu diety as it is set to depart the 200 year-old Taoist (Daoism) Gongtian Temple on its 200km route south. The temple has hoste...

The goddess Mazu deity is carried to the palanquin (left) inside which it will sit for the duration of a 200km pilgrimage starting at the Taoist (Daoism) Gongtian Temple and completed by many follower...

Exhausted worshippers take a nap along the route of the Mazu pilgrimage as they await the arrival of the palanquin bearing an ancient statue of goddess Mazu which has been carried from the start point...

Firecrackers explode in the crowd as performers dressed as temple spirits await the arrival of the palanquin bearing an ancient statue of goddess Mazu in the street outside the 200 year old Taoist (Da...

Villagers gather at the 200 year old Taoist (Daoism) Gongtian Temple for a ceremony where temple elders carry an ancient flag from inside the building and place it at the entrance. The temple is dedic...

Villagers gather at the 200 year old Taoist (Daoism) Gongtian Temple for a ceremony where temple elders carry an ancient flag from inside the building and place it at the entrance. The temple is dedic...

Villagers gather at the 200 year old Taoist (Daoism) Gongtian Temple for a ceremony where temple elders carry an ancient flag from inside the building and place it at the entrance. The temple is dedic...

Villagers gather at the 200 year old Taoist (Daoism) Gongtian Temple for a ceremony where temple elders carry an ancient flag from inside the building and place it at the entrance. The temple is dedic...

A young girl sleeps in her father's arms as villagers gather at the 200 year old Taoist (Daoism) Gongtian Temple for a ceremony where temple elders carry an ancient flag from inside the building and p...

A street in Chinatown which is usually busy and festive on Chinese New Year's day.

A woman and her baby look on as a US marine checks a compound as he participates in a security patrol.

A woman and her baby look on as a US marine checks a compound as he participates in a security patrol.

A US Marine gives a bar of chocolate to a boy during a security patrol.

A US marine waves at a child sleeping in a cot in the courtyard of a house where they are conducting a security patrol.

US marines stand beside a child sleeping in a cot in the courtyard of a house where they are conducting a security patrol.

A US marine points his rifle a the window of a house while conducting a security patrol.

A boy who was injured in a Taliban attack lies in a bed in Mirvays Hospital where he is being treated alongside other civilians. After the start of their annual spring offensive across the country, hu...

A US military base at Kandahar International Airport.

A US Marine stands guard while a group of children look on from the doorway of a house.

US marines talk with an elderly man as they conduct a security patrol.

A man injured in a Taliban attack is treated in Mirvays Hospital May. After the start of their annual spring offensive across the country, hundreds of Taliban militants have begun to try and overrun s...

A man walking through mud beneath an umbrella inside a camp for displaced people, who are primarily from Helmand.

Refugees pray in the courtyard of a mosque at the Maslakh Refugee Camp.

Refugees pray in the courtyard of a mosque at the Maslakh Refugee Camp.

US Marines conduct a patrol along the edge of a field of maize crops.

A US Marine conducts a patrol through a field of crops.

A US Marine rests in his barracks at Camp Leatherneck.

Children pump water at an IDP camp for people who have come, primarily from Helmand province, to the capital city.

Children playing on swings as they enjoy their weekend at a park.

A man who sorts wool in a fur and wool factory that produces coats, jackets, hats and other garments for the European and North American markets. More than 350 female and 300 male workers sort wool by...

A female customer sits, unveiled, waiting to have her face made up in a beauty salon.

A donkey is used to transport ballot materials to a remote polling booth.

Devotees leave after offering prayers at the start of the Eid al-Fitr holiday which marks the end of Ramadan at the Eid Gah Mosque.

US Marines conduct a patrol as a farmer tends to his crops.

A group of US Marines on patrol walk through a ploughed field.

A man tends a fire as a group of children, illuminated by the flames stand beside him.

A girl at the Red Cross orthopedic hospital.

Chickens being sold in a busy market.

A man prays at the roadside as night falls.

A US Marine conducts a patrol, with several young boys and their donkeys following.

U.S. Marines conduct a security patrol in Garmsir.

Policemen guard the bodies of two Taliban fighters killed during clashes at the Cinema Ariana following a battle between Taliban-linked militants and security forces on 18 January 2010. At least five...

A young man on a donkey laughs as he talks with US marines who are conducting a security patrol.

US marines travel in vehicles on a security patrol.

US marines read magazines while on a break from a patrol.

Female police officers training with Kalashnikov rifles. NATO defence ministers have approved a mission to train the Afghan police in paramilitary skills in a bid to cut the force's soaring death rate...

Children looking through a window stained with dust.

Former Afghan president Hamed Karzai during a press conference.

US marines read magazines while on a break from a patrol.

Female police officers training with Kalashnikov rifles. NATO defence ministers have approved a mission to train the Afghan police in paramilitary skills in a bid to cut the force's soaring death rate...

Policemen guard the bodies of two Taliban fighters killed during clashes at the Cinema Ariana following a battle between Taliban-linked militants and security forces on 18 January 2010. At least five...

Boys play football in an empty swimming pool built during the Soviet occupation.

People gether around the wreckage of a car used in a suicide car bomb attack which struck a heavily guarded neighbourhood near the home of a former Afghan vice president and a hotel favoured by wester...

A US Marine commander talks to Afghan locals at the Safar Bazaar.

Shopkeepers hold a shura (meeting), guarded by US marines and the ANA (Afghan National Army), to discuss the reopening of Safar bazaar. The bazaar had been closed because of IEDs (improvised explosive...

Policemen guard the bodies of two Taliban fighters killed during clashes at the Cinema Ariana following a battle between Taliban-linked militants and security forces on 18 January 2010. At least five...

Policemen guard the bodies of two Taliban fighters killed during clashes at the Cinema Ariana following a battle between Taliban-linked militants and security forces on 18 January 2010. At least five...

Police officers look out from a house badly damaged by a suicide car bomb attack which struck a heavily guarded neighbourhood near the home of a former Afghan vice president and a hotel favoured by we...

A man prepares sheep to sell in a market ahead of the feast of Eid al-Adha.

A group of shopkeepers pray after holding a Shura (meeting), guarded by US Marines and Afghan National Army soldiers. The Shura had been convened to discuss the reopening of the Safar Bazaar, in Helma...

US marines walk towards a helicopter to begin a patrol.

US marines walk towards a helicopter to begin a patrol.

US marines and ANA (Afghan National Army) soldiers prepare to leave the base for a joint patrol as behind them a helicopter prepares to land. On many patrols, the two military forces work together.

A former Taliban militant holds a rocket propelled grenade handed over to the Afghanistan Reconciliation Commission during a ceremony in Herat. The hand over ceremony is part of a peace-reconciliation...

US marines walk towards a helicopter to begin a patrol.

Veiled girls during a lesson at their makeshift school.

An Afghan woman, who self-immolated, lies in a bed at a hospital in Herat.

A group of US Marines play a card game at Camp Leatherneck.