Photographs: Lucas Jackson/Reuters
On March 11, a United States soldier walked off his base in Afghanistan and went on a shooting spree killing 16 civilians, nine of them children.
The unprecedented attack on families asleep in their houses by the 'rogue' American comes weeks after the burning of Qurans at a US base, which sparked deadly riots across Afghanistan.
Today, the anti-foreign sentiment is running high in Afghanistan and the two incidents raise questions in Kabul and Washington about the future of an increasingly unpopular war.
Life for the American soldiers serving in Afghanistan is complicated. Six US troops have been killed in Afghanistan since Feb 1 by their supposed Afghan allies. It's not easy to work with their Afghan counterparts, who sometimes turn out to be Taliban sympathisers.
Rediff.com gives you a sneak peak into the life of the American soldiers battling in Afghanistan as efforts are made in Washington to end its longest foreign war.
A soldier from the 10th Mountain Division says goodbye to family members before boarding a flight to Afghanistan at Fort Drum, New York October 26, 2010.
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters
US servicemen sit inside a C-17 Globemaster waiting to take off for Afghanistan at Manas Air Base near Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek.
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Baz Ratner/Reuters
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Asmaa Waguih/Reuters
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Nikola Solic/Reuters
US Army soldiers from Alpha Company 2nd battalion 27th infantry (The Wolfhounds), Task Force No Fear climb upon arrival to Observation Post Mace from Forward Operating Base Bostick in eastern Afghanistan Naray district, Kunar province near border of Pakistan.
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Erik De Castro/Reuters
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Erik De Castro/Reuters
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Asmaa Waguih/Reuters
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Umit Bektas/Reuters
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Nikola Solic/Reuters
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Goran Tomasevic/Reuters
A US Marine from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, gestures as he tries to protect an Afghan man and his child after Taliban fighters opened fire in the town of Marjah, in Nad Ali district, Helmand province.
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Goran Tomasevic/Reuters
Sgt. William Olas Bee, a US Marine from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, has a close call after Taliban fighters opened fire near Garmsir in Helmand Province of Afghanistan.
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Carlos Barria/Reuters
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Baz Ratner/Reuters
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Jim Young/Reuters
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Umit Bektas/Reuters
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Denis Sinyakov/Reuters
US Army SPC Jeremy Stocks from 'Dustoff' team, C Company, 1-214 Aviation Regiment, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade restores a flagpole back in place after the flagpole fell in a night sandstorm at Camp Dwyer in Helmand province.
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Goran Tomasevic/Reuters
A U.S. Marine, from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, rests after a battle with Taliban fighters near the town of Garmser in Helmand.
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Ahmad Masood/Reuters
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Jorge Silva/Reuters
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Umit Bektas/Reuters
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Baz Ratner/Reuters
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Brian Snyder/Reuters
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In PHOTOS: Guns and games in BATTLEFIELD Afghanistan
Photographs: Jason Reed/Reuters
Monica McNeal cries as she hugs a US marine at the grave of her 19-year-old son Eric Ward, at Arlington National Cemetery. Lance Corporal Eric Ward, a fourth-generation US Marine, was killed in Afghanistan.
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