Insurgent attacks, mainly mortar and roadside explosive devices, remain a threat. The performance of Afghan police and army units -- a central component of U.S. and Coalition strategy -- is markedly improved but still leaves much to be desired. And winning the trust and allegiance of Afghan villagers, in particular among the Pashtun, is a daily struggle, often undone by Taliban reprisals come nightfall.

Balint Szlanko has been embedded with the 10th Mountain Division for the month of July. His WPR reporter's notebooks can be found here.

An Afghan farmer looks on as he is questioned by a U.S. soldier
of the 10th Mountain Division regarding a suspected IED
(improvised explosive device) on the road (Balint Szlanko).

 

An American vehicle climbs a hillside road against
the majestic Afghan countryside (Balint Szlanko).

 

An Afghan National Police officer sits in his position by the highway
in Wardak province. The training and strengthening of the ANP
is a central pillar of NATO's counterinsurgency strategy
in Afghanistan (Balint Szlanko).

 

An Afghan National Police machine-gun position looks down on a village in the
Jaghtu district of Wardak province, Afghanistan. The district center comes
under near-constant attack by Taliban insurgents (Balint Szlanko).

 

Infantrymen of the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division fire a mortar at
insurgent positions from Combat Outpost Carwile in Wardak Province,
Afghanistan. Security has improved in the province since the division's
deployment, but fighting still flares up from time to time (Balint Szlanko).

 

A French machine-gunner looks out from his fighting vehicle at a passing
Afghan man. France provides training and mentoring teams for
Afghanistan's fledgling national army (Balint Szlanko).

 

A U.S. Army helicopter gunner looks out of the back door of a Chinook
transport helicopter at the Afghan countryside (Balint Szlanko).

 

An Afghan woman peeks out of her house at an American soldier of the 10th
Mountain Division in Wardak province. U.S. soldiers regularly patrol villages in
an attempt to protect the locals from Taliban insurgents (Balint Szlanko).

 

A U.S. Army sergeant of the 10th Mountain Division sits between
two Afghan men at a local council meeting in Wardak
province, Afghanistan (Balint Szlanko).

 

An Afghan village elder gestures in a local council debate in Wardak
province. International troops have recently been trying to set up
neighbourhood watches manned by locals in an attempt to keep
Taliban insurgents out (Balint Szlanko).

**Balint Szlanko is a London-based freelance journalist embedded with the 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army in Wardak and Logar provinces, Afghanistan, for the month of July. WPR will be featuring his reporter's diary, as well as news briefings and photo features, while he is there.