Louie Palu

Image Not Available for Afghan and Canadian soldiers in a trench mark their position with purple smoke during a drone strike on insurgents nearby, Panjwa’i District, Kandahar Province

Image Not Available for Afghan civilians stand by a wall covered in graffiti depicting machine guns and two anti-coalition slogans in Pashto saying "Death for London" and Death for America" in an area recently pacified and secured by the US Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) and British Forces in Garmsir District, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Garmsir has been a haven for insurgents for the last several years. Earlier this year the Marines cleared the area after a period of heavy fighting and recently handed over control to British Forces

Image Not Available for An Afghan National Army soldier lays in his bed beside his assault rifle, bread, tea and a small Christmas tree during the morning on the second day of EID while taking a break from the fighting to celebrate the second EID also known as the Festival of Sacrifice at a Forward Operating Base on the front lines in Zhari District located west of Kandahar City, Afghanistan. Many of the Afghan soldiers serving with Canadian Troops considered EID like their form of Christmas. There are two celebrations of EID during the second it is common to sacrifice an animal, which is to commemorate and celebrate the sacrifice of the Prophet Abraham also known as Ibrahim

Image Not Available for Afghan National Army soldiers seen on the front lines in Zhari District, Afghanistan

Image Not Available for An Afghan soldier at an Afghan Strong Point in Zhari District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan holds a pet bird known to them as a "Mina" which is a common pet amongst Afghan security forces. They clip the wings so the bird can't fly away

Image Not Available for An Afghan soldier plays a flute while others peel potatoes on the front lines in the Howz-E-Madad area a day before a joint operation against Taliban insurgents with Canadian Forces in Zharay District, Kandahar Afghanistan which along with nearby Panjwa'i are the most volatile areas in the country and the scene of heavy fighting with Taliban insurgents up through 2010, which has become the site of some of the largest land battles in NATO's history

Image Not Available for A blood and mud-stained Afghan soldier seriously injured by an IED during a patrol at night is illuminated by the MEDEVAC helicopters cabin lights as he is evacuated out of the Taliban stronghold of Zhari District during a combat operation in Kandahar, Afghanistan

Image Not Available for Canadian medics at a Canadian Forward Operating Base are seen standing on a blood stained floor while treating four Afghan civilians one of which later died from his wounds after they suffered injuries from an apparent improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Zhari District Afghanistan. Zhari and the adjacent Panjwai District have been the most volatile area of Afghanistan over the past two years and the site of NATO's largest ever land battle. Soldiers felt that the civilians' injuries seemed more associated with an accident from setting an IED than stumbling across one

Image Not Available for Canadian soldiers take cover from the dust and wind of a Canadian helicopter during an operation targeting insurgents in the village of Chalghowr in Panjwa'i (Panjwaii) District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan

Image Not Available for Medevac helicopter on mission over Zhari District, Kandahar, Afghanistan

Image Not Available for US Army flight Medic SGT Patrick Schultz talks to a wounded US soldier in the rear of a medevac helicopter while enroute to Kandahar Airfield after he was injured by an improvised explosive device in Zhari District, Kandahar, Afghanistan

Image Not Available for US Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) Battle Landing Team (BLT) 1/6 Alpha Company patrol down a main street of a village in Garmsir District, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Garmsir has been a haven for insurgents for the last several years. Earlier this year the Marines cleared the area after a period of heavy fighting and recently handed over control to British Forces