AFGHANISTAN-UNREST-MILITARY

To go with 'Afghanistan-Unrest-Military' FOCUS by Ben Sheppard In this photograph taken on December 10, 2014, Afghan soldiers from a small combat outpost at Siah Choy in southern Afghanistan watch other members of their unit play with a soccer ball. One ergonomic office chair, heaters that don't work and some maps are the only signs that US troops once battled daily with the Taliban at Siah Choy, a small combat outpost in southern Afghanistan. Now manned by just 30 Afghan soldiers, the base is in Kandahar province's Zhari district -- the birthplace of the Taliban movement and scene of years of heavy fighting as NATO forces struggled to gain a foothold in the area. AFP PHOTO / Roberto SCHMIDT (Photo credit should read ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)