FRIDAY FOTO (June 4, 2010)

Hands Up!

(Defense Dept. photo by Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Ja'lon A. Rhinehart)

A search and seizure team from the guided missile cruiser USS San Jacinto conduct a nighttime boarding in the Gulf of Aden, May 26, 2010. The San Jacinto is part of Combined Task Force 151, a multinational task force established to conduct counterpiracy operations in the Gulf of Aden.

For additional photos of the activities of Combined Task Force 151 click here.

FRIDAY FOTO EXTRA (June 4, 2010)

A Moment in Time

U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Russell Gilchrest

U.S. Army 1st Lt. Kevin Sweet (left) speaks with an Afghan man and his children in the village of Ibrahim Khel, Nerkh district, Wardak province, Afghanistan, May 27, 2010. Sweet, assigned to Company L, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team,  traveled to the village with Afghan soldiers to gather more information about a roadside bomb — an improvised explosive device or IED — found in a nearby road.

Pushtuns are the main ethnic group in volatile Wardak province. Other groups in the province, which is just southwest of Kabul, include Tajiks and Hazaras, and there has been increasing violence in the area, much of it flying under the news media’s radar, according to the Danger Room blog. (Click on image to enlarge).

To see more photos of earlier U.S. efforts in Wardak province click here.