2012
An Afghan National Army soldier shows his ripped army-issued boots at a firing range at the 203 Thunder Corps base in Gardez, Paktia province, on May 15. Col. Abdul Haleem Noori observed, "It's only two months old and it is falling apart, and we are told it is supposed to last one year." The footwear was made by a manufacturer under contract to the Afghan Ministry of Defense.
(Anja Niedringhaus / AP)
European Union ambassador Vygaudas Usackas attempts a putt at the Kabul golf course on May 11. The air at Afghanistan's only golf course is certainly easier to breathe than the dust and pollution of the chaotic capital, but golfers accustomed to the soothing sight of immaculate lawns would be in for a shock.
(Bay Ismoyo / AFP - Getty Images)
A girl holds a lamb on the outskirts of Herat on April 10. (Aref Karimi / AFP - Getty Images)
A man carries a bundle of wood in Nahr-i Sufi in the province of Kunduz on March 30. The Afghan economy has always been based on agriculture, despite the fact that only 13% of its total land is arable and just 8% is currently cultivated. (Johannes Eisele / AFP - Getty Images)
Security forces escort captured Taliban militants disguised in female dress to be presented to the media in Mehterlam, Laghman province, on March 28. Afghan intelligence forces said they had arrested seven Taliban militants.
(Rahmat Gul / AP)
Girls play sitars at the Kabul Music Academy on Jan. 7. (Omar Sobhani / Reuters)
2011
A young woman lifts weights during a practice session inside a boxing club in Kabul on Dec. 28. Many in this conservative society still consider fighting taboo for women, and the country's first team of female boxers deal with serious threats.
(Ahmad Masood / Reuters
Livestock merchant Mohammed Sher, 55, displays his sheep for sale for the upcoming Eid-al-Adha festival in an open market in Kabul on Nov. 4. (Muhammed Muheisen / AP)
Meena Rahmani, 26, owner of The Strikers, the country's first bowling center, is pictured on Oct. 28. Located just down the street from Kabul's glitziest mall, Meena Rahmani opened Afghanistan's first bowling alley, offering a place where men, women and families can gather, relax and bowl a few games. (Muhammed Muheisen / AP)
The Qala Iktyaruddin Citadel in Herat on Oct. 17. An ancient citadel in Herat that dates back to Alexander the Great has been restored, a bright sign of progress in a country destroyed by war. The citadel, a fortress that resembles a sand castle overlooking the city, and a new museum of artifacts at the site was completed by hundreds of local craftsmen. (Houshang Hashimi / AP)
An Afghan rock musician performs in front of a cheering crowd during Sound Central, a one-day "stealth festival" in Kabul, on Oct. 1. The festival is a daring venture in a country where music was banned for years under the austere Taliban regime. (Ahmad Masood / Reuters)
A freed Afghan woman prisoner along with her son leave the Nangarhar prison in the city of Jalalabad, the provincial capital of Nangarhar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 27. Around 38 Afghan prisoners were released from captivity based on the decree of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, honoring the 92th Afghan independence day.
(Rahmat Gul / AP)
Rubeena, center, a street girl, sits on the floor in a classroom at the Ashiana center in Kabul on July 26. An Afghan aid agency, Ashiana, and the World Food Program have been involved in a joint venture to assist the families of thousands of street children, who go there for food and education in the afternoons. The children go there after a morning spent as carpenters, mechanics, or cigarette sellers. (Dar Yasin / AP)
An Afghan shepherd with a herd of sheep passes a U.S. Marines armored vehicle of the Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines outside the Camp Gorgak in Helmand province, July 5. (Shamil Zhumatov / Reuters)
A young patient exercises with her artificial leg at one of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) hospitals for war victims and the disabled in Kabul on June 27. The ICRC orthopedic project started in 1988 in Kabul, and now consists of 7 centers in different provinces. (Massoud Hossaini / AFP - Getty Images)
Students skateboard along a street on the third annual "Go Skateboarding Day" organized by the Skateistan School in Kabul, Afghanistan, on June 21. Skateistan is Afghanistan's first co-educational skateboarding school. The school tries to provide urban and internally displaced youth in Afghanistan with new opportunities in cross-cultural interaction, education and personal empowerment. (S. Sabawoon / EPA)
A boy jumps into a public swimming pool in Kabul on June 10, with temperatures in the city over 90 degrees Fahrenheit. (Omar Sobhani / Reuters)
Shepherd boy Asadullah Daad Mohammad, 12, listens to his father, Daad Mohammad Pir Mohammad, before he stands up on his artificial legs for the first time on May 15. Asadullah was brought to the International Committee of the Red Cross Orthopedic Center in Kabul about ten days earlier. Asadullah lost his two legs, left eye and a finger most likely after he stepped on a land mine while he was out with his goats and sheep in Paktya province, south of Kabul, about five months ago. (Kamran Jebreili / AP)
Afghan children take part in a performance to celebrate the second "World Circus Day" on April 16, in Kabul. (Majid Saeedi / Getty Images)
The bustling streets of Kabul on March 31. Urban planners, investors and government officials are working to develop 'New Kabul City,' a modern urban area about a 30-minute drive north of the capital.
(Musadeq Sadeq / AP)
Afghan army officers listen to a speech by President Hamid Karzai at the National Military Academy in Kabul on March 22. Afghanistan said that its forces would take over security in areas including the Helmand capital from NATO this summer, launching a transition as foreign troops plan an exit by the end of 2014. (Shah Marai / AFP - Getty Images) *the woman you see is a general, and a paratrooper - I don't recall her name at the moment*
Street boys burn rubbish on the shore of a river in Kabul on March 13. (Musadeq Sadeq / AP)
A man walks his camels in the desert near Marjah in Helmand province on Jan. 25. (Kevin Frayer / AP)
A man buys a burqa at a roadside shop in Herat on Jan. 24. (Jalil Rezayee / EPA)
*I can just imagine the conversation "oh, that one will look lovely on her"*
Shahba Mall - before and after
Aleppo River & Tawhid Mosque
