Photo Gallery: A Decade of War in Afghanistan

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Civilians on horse-drawn carts scurry past burning fuel tankers along the Khyber Pass, an important border crossing connecting Afghanistan and Pakistan and a major supply route for NATO forces. Ten years ago, the US began dropping bombs on targets in Afghanistan in a bid to oust the Taliban for harboring al-Qaida terrorists.

Foto: ADREES LATIF/ REUTERS

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A Canadian soldier shakes hands with an Afghan boy near Kandahar in the summer of 2007. The anniversary of the war in Afghanistan comes amid growing concerns that the Taliban could regain control of the country once US and NATO troops withdraw. US President Barack Obama has said responsibility for Afghanistan's security should be handed over to Afghan forces in 2014.

Foto: FINBARR O'REILLY/ REUTERS

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Mere weeks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, residents of Kabul, seen here on Nov. 13, 2001, made their way to greet incoming fighters of the Northern Alliance. When the Afghan war began, it didn't take long for US forces to topple the Taliban government. But the deposed Islamist fighters have been waging increasingly aggressive attacks against NATO and Afghan security forces in recent months as responsibility for the country's security slowly changes hands.

Foto: YANNIS BEHRAKIS/ REUTERS

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Afghan women donning all-covering burqas wait for humanitarian aid in Kabul on Dec. 14, 2001, while a soldier uses a wooden stick to maintain order.

Foto: DAMIR SAGOLJ/ REUTERS

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Soldiers from the German Bundeswehr have been stationed on the Hindu Kush since 2001. Seen here on July 1, 2008, a Quick Reaction Force takes part in a drill near the northern city of Masar-i-Sharif.

Foto: A3576 Maurizio Gambarini/ dpa

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German Bundeswehr soldiers return fire after coming under mortar attack from insurgents on Dec. 14, 2009, while rebuilding a bridge that was destroyed on the outskirts of Kunduz.

Foto: © Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters/ REUTERS

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Fighters from the Northern Alliance are seen returning from their front line positions after a battle in northern Afghanistan. The NATO-backed forces have played a crucial role in undercutting the Taliban's stranglehold on the country.

Foto: GLEB GARANICH/ REUTERS

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A skirmish in Helmand province. A US marine shouts as he tries to protect an Afghan man and his child during a skirmish with Taliban fighters near the town of Marjah in Helmand province on Feb. 13, 2010.

Foto: GORAN TOMASEVIC/ REUTERS

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Close call for Sgt. William Bee, a US Marine taking fire from Taliban fighters near Garmsir in Helmand province on May 18, 2008. As of Oct. 4, 2011, the number of US military deaths in Afghanistan stood at 1,682, according to an Associated Press count.

Foto: GORAN TOMASEVIC/ REUTERS

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An Afghan man is detained by US forces in Helmand province after a battle with Taliban insurgents. During the US' tenure in Afghanistan, America's image abroad has been tainted by the maintenance of so-called "black sites" -- secret interrogation centers scattered across the country, run by the CIA.

Foto: FINBARR O'REILLY/ REUTERS

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A man cleans a portrait of the popular mujahedeen leader Ahmad Shah Massoud on the ninth anniversary of the fighter's assassination on Sept. 8, 2010.

Foto: ANDREW BIRAJ/ REUTERS

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At Arlington National Cemetary near Washington D.C., a woman cries as she hugs a US Marine on May 27, 2010, near the grave of her 19-year-old son.

Foto: JASON REED/ REUTERS

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A woman covered in a burqa walks past riot police outside a stadium in Kabul on Feb. 23, 2007.

Foto: AHMAD MASOOD/ REUTERS

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From their clifftop perch, Afghan soldiers keep an eye out for the enemy in the valley below on Sept. 22, 2005. In the background are the sandstone cliffs that once housed the Buddhas of Bamiyan -- monumental statues destroyed by the Taliban in March 2001.

Foto: DESMOND BOYLAN/ REUTERS

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An Afghan police officer stands guard in front of the destroyed King's Palace in Kabul on Aug. 29, 2005.

Foto: POOL/ REUTERS

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Northern Alliance fighters watch bombs rain down on Tora Bora on Dec. 16, 2001. The mountains housed a labyrinthine network of caves and it was long speculated that Osama bin Laden used the caves to evade capture.

Foto: ERIK DE CASTRO/ REUTERS

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Afghan children peek out the window of their shelter in the former Soviet Embassy in western Kabul on Nov. 27, 2001. In the 1980s, US-backed mujahedeen fighters in Afghanistan pushed out their Soviet occupiers in a bloody conflict that left rival militias vying for power. The civil war that ensued would eventually pave the way for the Taliban's rise to power.

Foto: DAMIR SAGOLJ/ Reuters

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As US Marines fill sand bags around their light mortar position on Dec. 1, 2001, a flimsy cardboard sign warns of nearby enemies.

Foto: JIM HOLLANDER/ REUTERS

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Former US President George W. Bush and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai wave from a golf cart at the American presidential retreat, Camp David on Aug. 5, 2007. Months after the US invasion began, Karzai was sworn in as the head of the interim government in a power-sharing agreement.

Foto: LARRY DOWNING/ REUTERS

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Even in times of war, life goes on. In this photo taken June 1, 2010, Afghan soccer players gather in front of the destroyed Darulaman Palace in Kabul.

Foto: AHMAD MASOOD/ REUTERS

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Opium oozes from poppy plants in a field in Farah province on May 5, 2009. A major source of revenue for the Taliban, the American military has set its sights on reducing the trafficking of the drug. But many poor farmers rely on the profits it generates for survival.

Foto: GORAN SIVACKI/ REUTERS

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The late al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden (left) sits next to Ayman al-Zawahri in this undated file photo. The US invasion of Afghanistan was retaliation against the country's Taliban rulers for harboring the terrorists responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Foto: HO/ Reuters

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Taliban insurgents read the Koran in a military jail in Kabul on Nov. 26, 2001.

Foto: DAMIR SAGOLJ/ Reuters

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A curious crowd watches a helicopter belonging to the Afghan National Army Air Corps as it carries President Hamid Karzai during an election rally in Gardez, south of Kabul, on Aug. 4, 2009.

Foto: AHMAD MASOOD/ REUTERS