Life and war in Afghanistan: February 2012

Our continuing photo coverage depicts Afghan life as coalition forces fight in the country.

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Feb. 28, 2012

Afghan girls from the Mobile Mini Circus for Children perform after meeting with Afghan officials to talk about their plans for children at Afghanistan's Ministry of Information and Culture in Kabul.

Massoud Hossani / AFP/Getty Images

Feb. 24, 2012

An Afghan policeman keeps watch during clashes with protesters in Kabul.

Omar Sobhani / Reuters

Feb. 20, 2012

Afghan youths push wheelbarrows as snow falls in Kabul. Harsh winter weather has killed at least 40 children in Afghanistan in a month, two dozen of them in refugee camps in Kabul, and aid groups warn of more deaths as temperatures keep falling.

Shah Marai / AFP/Getty Images

Feb. 20, 2012

A child stands with his father as they wait to receive blankets and winter jackets from Welthungerhilfe, a German nongovernmental organization, during a snowfall at a camp for internally displaced Afghans in Kabul.

Musadeq Sadeq / AP

Feb. 20, 2012

Afghan municipal workers clean off the snow from a main road during a storm at a refugee camp in Kabul.

Musadeq Sadeq / AP

Feb. 20, 2012

An Afghan woman and child beg during a shower in Mazar-i Sharif. Mazar-i Sharif is the capital of Balkh province with multi-ethnic groups such as Uzbeks, Turkmen, Tajiks and Hazaras.

Qais Usyan / AFP/Getty Images

Feb. 19, 2012

An Afghan man feeds pigeons on the roof of his house as a rainbow forms in the background in Mazar-i Sharif. Mazar-i Sharif means “Respected Shrine,” but the city is known by tourists as the city of the blue mosque in the city center called the Shrine of Hazrat Ali.

Qais Usyan / AFP/Getty Images

Feb. 17, 2012

Afghan police are seen near a recaptured police vehicle, which was hidden under dried plants during an operation in Ghazni province, west of Kabul. The vehicle had been stolen by Taliban militants who planned to use it during an attack on governmental buildings, a police official said.

Rahmatullah Naikzad / AP

Feb. 15, 2012

Afghan girls carry water in plastic containers in Kabul.

Ahmad Jamshid / AP

Feb. 14, 2012

Afghan police security women stand with their faces covered in a line while confiscated arms and ammunition were displayed to the media in Lashkar Gah, Helmand province. More than 200 mines, light and heavy machine guns along with ammunition were confiscated by Afghan security forces in Sangin that day, Afghan police officials said.

Abdul Khaleq / AP

Feb. 12, 2012

Mohammad Jamal, 37, a vendor who sells carrots and turnips, warms his hands over a fire as he waits for customers during a snowstorm in Kabul.

Rahmat Gul / AP

Feb. 12, 2012

A girl at a refugee camp in Kabul waits during a snowstorm to receive items donated by the U.N. Refugee Agency.

Musadeq Sadeq / AP

Feb. 12, 2012

A man carries a sack containing blankets to be distributed among the refugees. The U.N. Refugee Agency provided essential non-food winter items to 266 families in the fourth district of Kabul, as part of a coordinated emergency mission in response to the harsh winter conditions.

Musadeq Sadeq / AP

Feb. 12, 2012

A butcher adjusts his display of meat that is kept cold, hung on the outside of his shop in Kabul.

Rahmat Gul / AP

Feb. 12, 2012

A refugee child in Kabul cries as she waits for items donated by the U.N. Refugee Agency through a winter assistance program.

Musadeq Sadeq / AP

Feb. 9, 2012

An elderly man waits for customers inside his shop in Kabul.

Musadeq Sadeq / AP

Feb. 9, 2012

A man walks on a frozen lake in Kabul, which has been experiencing its worst cold-snap and heaviest snows in at least 15 years.

Musadeq Sadeq / AP

Feb. 9, 2012

A street barber trims the mustache of a customer in snow-covered Kabul.

Musadeq Sadeq / AP

Feb. 9, 2012

Youths warm their hands over a fire in Kabul. The National Weather Center said temperatures in Kabul dipped as low as 3 degrees Fahrenheit.

Ahmad Nazar / AP

Feb. 9, 2012

A man selects firewood to purchase in Kabul. The cold, combined with about 20 inches of snow, has caused power blackouts and iced over most of the capital's roads. The bad weather has also caused a sharp increase in demand for wood, the main fuel used by the city's 5 million residents to heat their homes.

Musadeq Sadeq / AP

Feb. 9, 2012

A porter waits to be hired to carry goods on his donkey in Kabul.

Musadeq Sadeq / AP

Feb. 8, 2012

A guard from a private security company searches a man in Herat. The push by Afghanistan's president to nationalize legions of private security guards before the end of March is putting multibillion-dollar aid projects in jeopardy and creating a shaky structure ripe for corruption and abuse, according to companies trying to make the switch.

Hoshang Hashimi / AP

Feb. 7, 2012

A displaced youth from Helmand province stands outside a makeshift tent at a refugee camp in Kabul.

Musadeq Sadeq / AP

Feb. 5, 2012

A woman clad in a burqa is carried in a wheelbarrow to a bus station in Kabul.

Musadeq Sadeq / AP

Feb. 4, 2012

Afghans listen to speeches during a celebration to mark the anniversary of the birth of Islam's prophet Muhammad at a mosque in Kabul. The birthday is celebrated by reciting the Koran and distributing free food to poor people in Afghanistan.

Musadeq Sadeq / AP

Feb. 4, 2012

A Muslim boy celebrates the prophet Muhammad 's birth by reciting from the Koran at a mosque in Kabul.

Musadeq Sadeq / AP

Feb. 4, 2012

People walk up the hillside after a snowstorm in Kabul. National Weather Center meteorologist Abdul Qadir Qadir says the heavy snows were beneficial for Afghanistan, which has been suffering from 12 years of drought.

Musadeq Sadeq / AP

Feb. 4, 2012

Afghans play a friendly match of soccer after a snowstorm in Kabul.

Musadeq Sadeq / AP

Feb. 4, 2012

An Afghan shopkeeper cleans snow from in front of his shop, as snow shovels are displayed for sale after a snowstorm in Kabul. The heavy snowfall shut down the country's largest airport.

Musadeq Sadeq / AP

Feb. 3, 2012

An Afghan shopkeeper waits for customers during a snowstorm in Kabul.

Ahmad Jamshid / AP

Feb. 3, 2012

An Afghan woman waits for alms with her child during a snowstorm in Kabul.

Ahmad Jamshid / AP

Feb. 3, 2012

An Afghan man rides his bicycle during a snowstorm in Kabul.

Ahmad Jamshid / AP

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