Afghanistan from above (Part 2) (29 photos)

Today we continue our series with a selection of aerial photographs of Afghanistan.







1. US Marines in an MRAP armored vehicle in Helmand Province. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)





2. An Afghan boy in a field near Marjah. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)



3. A U.S. soldier over the Hindu Kush mountain range after delivering humanitarian aid to earthquake victims in the northern city of Nahrin. On March 25, 2002, a powerful earthquake destroyed buildings in the region, injuring many and leaving many homeless. Relief organizations rushed to help tens of thousands of homeless Afghans. (Photo by Natalie Behring-Chisholm/Getty Images)



4. An Afghan man looks at a helicopter on February 16, 2002, during a military operation in Kandahar. The helicopters are part of the U.S. military's efforts to combat Taliban and al-Qaeda militants. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)



5. A U.S. soldier mans a machine gun aboard a Chinook helicopter 100 kilometers north of Kabul. (SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images)



6. A U.S. soldier mans a machine gun aboard a Chinook helicopter 100 kilometers north of Panjshir province. (SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images)



7. A French helicopter over an Afghan village in Kapisa province. (JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)



8. French troops in helicopters over Kapisa province. (JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)



9. An Afghan farm in Kapisa province. (JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)



10. A small village in the mountains of Afghanistan. The top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, said it would take three to four years to strengthen Afghan security before the withdrawal of 70,000 international troops could begin. (JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)



11. An American soldier mans a machine gun aboard a Chinook helicopter over Kabul. (SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images)



12. The outskirts of Kabul. (JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)



13. Soldiers aboard an Airbus over the mountains of Afghanistan. (JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)



14. A soldier mans a machine gun in the tail of a helicopter en route to Lashkar Gah Air Base in Helmand Province. (Photo by Leon Neal - WPA Pool/Getty Images)



15. An aerial view of a mountain in northern Afghanistan, near the border with Tajikistan. (ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images)



16. A village in a valley in northern Afghanistan. (ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images)



17. A U.S. Marine in a CH-53 helicopter over Marjah District in Helmand Province. On May 2, the United States announced the killing of Osama bin Laden during an operation in Pakistan, nearly 10 years after the September 11 attacks. (BAY ISMOYO/AFP/Getty Images)



18. Aerial view of Darul Aman Palace, the former residence of Afghan King Amanullah (1920-1929). On April 11, 2005, Afghanistan announced plans to convert the ruins of the former royal palace into the headquarters of the country's first post-Taliban parliament, but requested assistance from private donors for the restoration. The Afghan government has supported a German architect's plans to restore the palace, built by Afghan King Amanullah Khan in 1924. However, the cost to the donors will be $60-70 million. (EMMANUEL DUPARCQ/AFP/Getty Images)



19. French soldiers conduct an air patrol over Kabul ahead of the visit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. "The international community simply cannot lose the 'war on terror' in Afghanistan," Sarkozy said during his short visit to the troubled country. (ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images)



20. An aerial view of the Hindu Kush Mountains in Afghanistan. (JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)



21. An aerial view of the Iran-Afghan border near the southeastern Iranian city of Zabol. Iran gave journalists a rare tour of its eastern border to raise awareness of its cash-strapped drug war. (BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)



22. An aerial view of Kandahar Province from a helicopter carrying U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates. (Photo by Jason Reed-Pool/Getty Images)



23. A CH-53 helicopter avoids ground fire while patrolling over Helmand Province. (DAVID FURST/AFP/Getty Images)



24. A wide strip of villages with agricultural land and mud houses near the Helmand River and an irrigation canal surrounded by fertile fields. (ROMEO GACAD/AFP/Getty Images)



25. Aerial view of Jalalabad. US President Barack Obama vowed on December 10, 2009, that Afghanistan would not become a "permanent protectorate" of the United States, continuing to insist on a July 2011 troop withdrawal. (TAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP/Getty Images)



26. American soldiers in a Black Hawk helicopter over Shahwali Kot district after takeoff from Kandahar Airfield. (TAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP/Getty Images)



27. An aerial view of agricultural land near the Afghan mountains from a French helicopter. On December 16, 2009, France agreed for the first time to send troops to Afghanistan to help the US president fight terrorism. (JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)



28. An aerial view of the snow-covered village of Salang, where an avalanche killed about 165 people, on February 10, 2010, in Parwan province. Rescuers recovered the bodies of 165 people after one of the country's worst disasters. (SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images)



29. A Black Hawk helicopter flies over Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)