A burqa-clad Afghan woman makes her way as snow falls in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif on Dec. 27.

Internally displaced Afghan women from Helmand province wait to receive winter supplies from the UNHCR at the Charhi Qambar refugee camp on the outskirts of Kabul on Dec. 27. Since the 2001 US-led invasion brought down the Taliban, 3.8 million refugees have returned, leaving 1.6 million behind, most born and brought up in Pakistan. In late October, UNHCR boosted incentives for Afghans to return and around 10,000 Afghans went home from Oct. 23 to Nov. 30 -- more than double the number who were repatriated in the same period last year.

Afghans warm themselves at their shop in Kabul on Dec. 27. Temperatures dropped to 34 Fahrenheit in Kabul.

Afghan displaced families receive winter goods distributed by the UNHCR on outskirts of Kabul Dec. 27.

An Afghan girl walks past a burning tire, which was set on fire by residents to warm themselves, along a street on a snowy day in Kabul on Dec. 27.

Afghan men walk past snow-covered trees in Kabul on Dec. 27.

Afghan men guide firefighters after a huge fire swept through a market in Kabul on Dec. 23.

An Afghan man walks through the area of a fire that swept through a market in Kabul, Dec. 23.

Afghan policemen and fire fighters investigate the scene of a burning market in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 23.

Afghan displaced children warm themselves at a refugee camp in Kabul, Afghanistan on Dec. 18.

An Afghan worker from the German run charity organization, known as, Johanniter, writes a number on the hand of an internally displaced boy during a winter assistance donation at a refugee camp in Kabul.

Afghan displaced women stand in line to receive fire wood provided by a German run charity organization at a refugee camp in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 18.

An Afghan displaced woman sits on bags filled with fire wood in Kabul, Afghanistan Dec. 18.

Prayers are said at the graves of children killed by a mine explosion in Chaparhar, in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, on Dec. 17, 2012. An exploding bomb or land mine killed ten young girls as they were gathering firewood outside their village in the east of the country.

Security personnel of the Contrack company stand at the scene of an explosion in Kabul on Dec. 17, 2012. A car bomb exploded outside a compound housing a U.S. military contractor in the Afghan capital Monday, blowing apart an exterior wall and wounding dozens inside, company representatives and police said.

Afghan men gather at a crowded bus stop in the center of Lashkar Gah to catch a bus to Sangin, Afghanistan, the scene of some of the most violent fighting between the Taliban and British and U.S. forces.

Afghan women shop in a crowded bazaar in the heart of Lashkar Gah, southern Helmand's provincial capital in Afghanistan. In deeply conservative Helmand women have worn the all encompassing burqas for centuries yet they too say the increasing insecurity makes them afraid even from behind their veils and shopkeepers say burqa sales are up.

An Afghan family of five leaves on a single motorbike Marjah, Afghanistan's chaotic one-street bazaar.

Afghan girls share a joke in the center of Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, Afghanistan.

An Afghan man gets a haircut in Marjah, Afghanistan's chaotic one-street bazaar. In southern Helmand province.

Afghan men gather in a tea house in the center of Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, Afghanistan.

An Afghan man waits next to the bed where his sick daughter is treated in the Boot hospital in Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, Afghanistan. Only a few hospitals service the entire province, residents often have to travel over dangerous roads to get to the few hospitals located in the capital.

An Afghan nomad kisses his young daughter while watching his herd in Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan. They say they are too afraid to go out after dark because of marauding bands of thieves and during the day corrupt police and government officials bully them into paying bribes.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Ehsamullah, 30, left, who lost his leg after being shot with an AK-47 and Hassibullah, 30, right, who lost his after stepping on a mine, practice walking with their prosthetic limbs at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) orthopedic center on Nov. 20 in Kabul.

Afghan National Army commando, Khairuddin Sultan, 21, is helped up by his friend Ala Mohamed who joined the army with him 18 months ago, as an orthopedic specialist molds a cast for his prosthetic legs on Nov. 19. Khairuddin, a double amputee, lost his legs when an IED exploded during a joint operation against the Taliban with U.S. special forces. The IED exploded while he was using a mine detector, sending shrapnel into his outstretched hand and blowing up his legs.

Bismillah Gul, 12, suffering from poliomyelitis, is helped by his father Masta Gul, after having traveled from Khost province to get treatment on Nov. 19 in Kabul.

Khairullah, 10, watches as his brother Zainullah, 18, has a mold cast for a prosthetic arm on Nov. 20 in Kabul. Zainullah, a brick worker, lost his hand six months ago, shaping a brick from mud that contained a mine.

An orthopedic technician works on a prosthetic arm on Nov. 20 in Kabul, Afghanistan.

An orthopedic specialist checks the mobility of new prosthetic limbs being fitted on a patient on Nov. 20 in Kabul.

An orthopedic specialist fits a new prosthetic limb onto a patient on Nov. 20 in Kabul.

An orthopedic technician walks past prosthetic limbs being stored for patients on Nov. 20 in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Patients sit inside their ward at a mental hospital in Kabul on November 11, 2012. The war in Afghanistan is creating a generation of people mentally damaged by their exposure to incessant conflict, a buildup of problems which could undermine the country's reconstruction and development efforts.

Ghazia Sadid, 26, a patient suffering from depression, speaks during an interview with Reuters at a mental hospital in Kabul on November 14, 2012.

A patient scribbles on his hand as he sits inside his ward at a mental hospital in Kabul on November 11, 2012.

Patients sit inside their ward at a mental hospital in Kabul on November 11, 2012.

Afghan children wind up and collect their takings for the day after scavenging for recyclables at a garbage dump site.

Afghan Pashtun boys, warm themselves by a fire near to a garbage dump site at night.

Afghan families take a joy ride at the Qargha Lake in Kabul, Afghanistan, Nov. 9, 2012.

An Afghan boy chases his friend riding a horse at the Qargha Lake in Kabul, Afghanistan, Nov. 9.

Afghan children buy candy floss from a street vendor at Qargha Lake in Kabul, Afghanistan, Nov. 9.

An Afghan couple rides a paddle boat at Qargha Lake in Kabul, Afghanistan, Nov. 9.