All images by Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

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

Daniel Berehulak,  Getty Images — Qargha Lake, located about 5 miles outside of Kabul, is a popular destination for swimming and boating. The Spojmai Hotel located on the banks of Lake Qargha was attacked by the Taliban in June of 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.

Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

Aref Karimi / AFP - Getty Images

More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

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Goran Tomasevic / Reuters

U.S. and Afghan soldiers rest during a operation on a cold morning near the town of Walli Was in Paktika province, Afghanistan on November 2, 2012.

As the rigors of an Afghan winter started to take effect, soldiers wrapped themselves in blankets to protect against the cold on a rocky outcrop in the east of the country on Friday morning. 

Reuters photographer Goran Tomasevic, who won a Frontline Club award last week for the "unparalleled combat photography" he produced in a previous project, 18 days with the Syrian rebels, is currently documenting U.S. and Afghan troops in the country's Paktika province.

According to a report by The Associated Press last month, al-Qaida is attempting a comeback in Afghanistan's mountainous east as U.S. and allied forces wind down their combat mission and concede a small but steady toehold to the terrorist group. 

Goran Tomasevic / Reuters

U.S. and Afghan soldiers and a U.S. Army Chinook during an operation near the town of Walli Was in Paktika province on November 1, 2012.

Goran Tomasevic / Reuters

A soldier of B Troop, 1st squadron of the 4th US Cavalry Regiment works with a shovel next to a mired truck near COP (Combat Outpost) Sar Howza in Paktika province on October 29, 2012.

Goran Tomasevic / Reuters

An AK-47 rifle belonging to an Afghan policeman lies on the ground as other policemen grill meat during the celebration of the Muslim Eid Al Adha festival in COP Sar Howza in Paktika province on October 26, 2012.

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Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

Aref Karimi / AFP - Getty Images

More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

Launch slideshow

GRAPHIC WARNING: This post contains graphic images which some viewers may find disturbing. 

Munir Uz Zaman / AFP - Getty Images

US Army soldiers attached to 2nd platoon, C troop, 1st Squadron (Airborne), 91st U.S Cavalry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team protect a wounded comrade, Private Ryan Thomas, from dust and smoke flares after an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast during a patrol near Baraki Barak base in Logar Province, Afghanistan on October 13, 2012.

Munir Uz Zaman / AFP - Getty Images

Private Ryan Thomas receives medical assistance after he was injured.

Munir Uz Zaman / AFP - Getty Images

US Army soldiers carry Private Ryan Thomas to a waiting helicopter.

Photographer Munir uz Zaman captured these photos on Saturday, October 13 after a U.S. soldier was injured by the blast from an Improvised Explosive Device during a patrol in eastern Afghanistan. The photos were made available to NBC News today.

21-year-old Private Ryan Thomas, an Oklahoman with the 173rd Airborne, suffered soft tissue damage and was scheduled to be evacuated to Germany after surgery in Afghanistan. Watch a video of the operation to extract him after he was injured. 

Slideshow — Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

After 11 years of war, 2,135 U.S. soldiers dead, their Afghan colleagues turning on them, and widespread predictions the conflict will end in failure, coalition forces could be forgiven for suffering a dip in morale, Agence France Presse reports. But commanders and soldiers on the ground insist the challenges are bringing them closer together, even if the outcome of the war is uncertain and the perception of what constitutes success has changed. 

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Roberto Schmidt / AFP - Getty Images

A man and child ride a donkey along a road leading into the small town of Baharak in Northeastern Afghanistan in the late afternoon on October 6, 2012.

The town is located in a fertile valley which is fed by the Kokcha river and is ringed by rugged arid mountains to the north and south. The province of Badakhshan, which shares borders with Tajikistan, China and Pakistan, is mostly inhabited by ethnic Tajik, Uzbek and Kyrgyz people.

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Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

Aref Karimi / AFP - Getty Images

More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

Launch slideshow

Carlos Osorio / AP

Chloe Mills, 1-year-old daughter of Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills and his wife Kelsey, crawls past her father's walking legs in his boyhood home in Vassar, Mich., on Oct. 4, 2012.

Carlos Osorio / AP

Travis Mills plays with his daughter Chloe.

The Associated Press reports from Vassar, Mich. — Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills had been a lot of places since losing his four limbs in Afghanistan. The one place he hadn't been was where people knew him best.

He finally returned to his Michigan hometown this week — six months after the explosion that cost him his arms and legs — to serve as the grand marshal of his old high school's homecoming parade.

"This is my new normal, and it's all about how I adjust to it," he said moments after using his prosthetic legs to walk from the living room to the sun room at his childhood home. "There's no good that's gonna come from me sitting there and wondering, 'Why'd this happen? Why me? Now what do I do?' The answer's right in front of you: It happened because it happened." Read the full story.

Visit Travis Mills' web page to learn more about his road to recovery.

Related links:

• At long last: Remains of soldiers killed in World War II put to rest
• Wounded warriors show grit, determination on journey to recovery
• Funeral for a New Jersey soldier killed in Afghanistan

Carlos Osorio / AP

Mills, right, is helped with his home legs by his father, Dennis Mills.

Carlos Osorio / AP

Kelsey Mills helps her husband navigate the newly installed ramp at his boyhood home.

Carlos Osorio / AP

Travis Mills rides in the back of a Jeep during the homecoming parade on Thursday, Oct. 4. Mills, his wife, Kelsey, and their 1-year-old daughter, Chloe, were the grand marshals of Vassar High School's homecoming parade.

Carlos Osorio / AP

Julie Best, a friend of Travis Mills, cheers as he rides in the homecoming parade.

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