GRAPHIC WARNING: This post contains graphic images which some viewers may find disturbing.
Photographer Munir uz Zaman captured these photos on Saturday, October 13 after a U.S. soldier was injured by the blast from an Improvised Explosive Device during a patrol in eastern Afghanistan. The photos were made available to NBC News today.
21-year-old Private Ryan Thomas, an Oklahoman with the 173rd Airborne, suffered soft tissue damage and was scheduled to be evacuated to Germany after surgery in Afghanistan. Watch a video of the operation to extract him after he was injured.
Slideshow — Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads
After 11 years of war, 2,135 U.S. soldiers dead, their Afghan colleagues turning on them, and widespread predictions the conflict will end in failure, coalition forces could be forgiven for suffering a dip in morale, Agence France Presse reports. But commanders and soldiers on the ground insist the challenges are bringing them closer together, even if the outcome of the war is uncertain and the perception of what constitutes success has changed.
