US soldiers from first Batallion, 32nd infantry Regiment 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain division fire from a vehicle towards enemy positions near Shigal village in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan, on December 7. NATO commanders warned US Defence Secretary Robert Gates of the challenges involved in recruiting Afghan soldiers and police, which the US military hopes will number 287,000 by July 2011.
(AFP/File/Tauseef Mustafa)