The many faces of the armed forces

Published February 27, 2013
Malian army soldier Lassine Traore, aged 24, holds a  bazooka in Gao, some 1,200 kilometres north of Bamako. After recapturing the north's cities from the Al Qaeda groups that had controlled them since April 2012, the six-week-long French-led offensive took the fight to the retreating Islamist insurgents' toughest desert bastions.?Photo by AFP
Malian army soldier Lassine Traore, aged 24, holds a bazooka in Gao, some 1,200 kilometres north of Bamako. After recapturing the north's cities from the Al Qaeda groups that had controlled them since April 2012, the six-week-long French-led offensive took the fight to the retreating Islamist insurgents' toughest desert bastions.?Photo by AFP
Indian security guard the area after a laptop bag was reported and sparked a security alert outside the Army Research and Referral Hospital in New Delhi, India. Security levels have been high since dual bomb attacks killed 16 people outside a movie theatre and a bus station in the southern city of Hyderabad on Thursday.?Photo by AP
Indian security guard the area after a laptop bag was reported and sparked a security alert outside the Army Research and Referral Hospital in New Delhi, India. Security levels have been high since dual bomb attacks killed 16 people outside a movie theatre and a bus station in the southern city of Hyderabad on Thursday.?Photo by AP
Forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad deploy in Al-Suwayqa neighborhood in the old city of Aleppo after capturing it from the Free Syrian Army.?Photo by Reuters
Forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad deploy in Al-Suwayqa neighborhood in the old city of Aleppo after capturing it from the Free Syrian Army.?Photo by Reuters
Wearing army-style camouflage costumes little Azerbaijanis take part in a ceremony to mark the 21st anniversary of what Azerbaijan refers to as the "Khojaly Massacre" at a monument to the Khojaly  victims in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani authorities say 613 people died when Armenian troops attacked the village of Khojaly in Karabakh in 1992 during Nagorny-Karabakh conflict in what Baku has described as "genocide", a term fiercely rejected by Yerevan.?Photo by AFP
Wearing army-style camouflage costumes little Azerbaijanis take part in a ceremony to mark the 21st anniversary of what Azerbaijan refers to as the "Khojaly Massacre" at a monument to the Khojaly victims in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani authorities say 613 people died when Armenian troops attacked the village of Khojaly in Karabakh in 1992 during Nagorny-Karabakh conflict in what Baku has described as "genocide", a term fiercely rejected by Yerevan.?Photo by AFP
This undated photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via the Korean News Service (KNS) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (R) inspecting an artillery firing drill of the Korean People's Army.   Kim Jong-Un oversaw a live-fire artillery drill aimed at simulating an "actual war", state media said, a day after South Korea swore in its first female president.?Photo by AFP
This undated photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via the Korean News Service (KNS) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (R) inspecting an artillery firing drill of the Korean People's Army. Kim Jong-Un oversaw a live-fire artillery drill aimed at simulating an "actual war", state media said, a day after South Korea swore in its first female president.?Photo by AFP
US soldiers participate in an Air Assault training course at a US Army base in Dongducheon, 40 kms north of Seoul. About 250 US soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Division located in South Korea took part in the two-week course until March 8, focused on combat assault operations involving US Army rotary-wing aircraft.?Photo by AFP
US soldiers participate in an Air Assault training course at a US Army base in Dongducheon, 40 kms north of Seoul. About 250 US soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Division located in South Korea took part in the two-week course until March 8, focused on combat assault operations involving US Army rotary-wing aircraft.?Photo by AFP
Free Syrian Army fighters, dance Dabkeh (traditional dance) during a revolutionary party at one of their caves, in Jabal al-Zaweya, in Idlib Province, Syria. Syria is ready to hold talks with the armed opposition trying to topple President Bashar Assad, the country's foreign minister said Monday, in the government's most advanced offer yet to try to resolve the 2-year-old civil war through negotiations.?Photo by AP
Free Syrian Army fighters, dance Dabkeh (traditional dance) during a revolutionary party at one of their caves, in Jabal al-Zaweya, in Idlib Province, Syria. Syria is ready to hold talks with the armed opposition trying to topple President Bashar Assad, the country's foreign minister said Monday, in the government's most advanced offer yet to try to resolve the 2-year-old civil war through negotiations.?Photo by AP
Free Syrian Army fighters take cover while firing a rocket on the front line in Izaa district in Aleppo.?Photo by Reuters
Free Syrian Army fighters take cover while firing a rocket on the front line in Izaa district in Aleppo.?Photo by Reuters
A Free Syrian army fighter rests beside a guitar in Izaa district in Aleppo.?Photo by Reuters
A Free Syrian army fighter rests beside a guitar in Izaa district in Aleppo.?Photo by Reuters
Ugandan soldiers, operating under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), march towards Buurhkaba from their former position in the town of Leego alongside members of the Somali National Army (SNA).?Photo by Reuters
Ugandan soldiers, operating under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), march towards Buurhkaba from their former position in the town of Leego alongside members of the Somali National Army (SNA).?Photo by Reuters

—Images by Agencies

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