Photo gallery: Village elders meet with Afghan, coalition officials
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Stars and Stripes
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Published: August 12, 2008
 A sniper team from the British 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment scans for enemy activity in Osman Kheyl, in Afghanistan's Kandahar province before a meeting Thursday between village elders and Afghan and coalition officials. The elders were urged not to support the Taliban; violence by the militant group has risen sharply in southern Afghanistan in the last two years, and U.S. and other NATO countries are sending more troops to the region.  Afghan National Civil Order Police search men before a meeting Thursday between village elders and Afghan and coalition officials in Osman Kheyl, in Afghanistan's Kandahar Province.  An Afghan National Civil Order Police officer searches a village elder.  British troops give local elders a final once-over with a metal detector before the men are allowed to attend a meeting with Afghan and coalition officials.  U.S. Navy medic Derek Treadway, 37, of Pensacola, Fla., administers a painkiller Thursday to an Afghan boy in Osman Kheyl. The boy was caught in the crossfire two months ago during a firefight between U.S. troops and Taliban fighters and hit in the hip by a machine gun round. His left leg was covered in a cast, and his leg had begun to swell and atrophy.  An Afghan boy shot in the hip after he was caught in the crossfire two months ago during a firefight between U.S. soldiers and Taliban fighters bears his pain stoically as Navy medic Derek Treadway, 37, of Pensacola, Fla. examines his leg.  Village elders in Osman Kheyl, in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, listen as district leader Mullah Masood urges them not to support the Taliban and to cooperate with foreign troops and Afghan security forces.    |
