Women pick up guns and join men in Afghan National Police training

Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters

Female Afghan National Police (ANP) officers aim their weapons during a drill at a training center near the German Bundeswehr army camp Marmal in Mazar-e-Sharif, northern Afghanistan on Dec. 11.

Female Afghan National Police (ANP) officers trained alongside men at a training center near the German Bundeswehr army camp of Marmal in Mazar-e-Sharif, northern Afghanistan on Tuesday. German police are mentoring the training program for ANP, as part of an ongoing International Security Assistance Force mission, according to Reuters. Woman make up only 9 percent of the police force, according to The New York Times, as many husbands and provincial commanders are uncomfortable with women in such a role.

Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters

A female ANP officer receives her weapon for a drill at a training center near the German Bundeswehr army camp Marmal in Mazar-e-Sharif, northern Afghanistan on Dec. 11.

Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters

A German police instructor talks to female ANP officers before a drill at a training center near the German Bundeswehr army camp Marmal in Mazar-e-Sharif, northern Afghanistan on Dec. 11.

Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters

Male and female ANP officers line up before a drill at a training center near the German Bundeswehr army camp Marmal in Mazar-e-Sharif, northern Afghanistan on Dec. 11.

Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters

Male and female ANP officers take part in a drill at a training center near the German Bundeswehr army camp Marmal in Mazar-e-Sharif, northern Afghanistan on Dec. 11.

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