KABUL (AP) -- Thousands of U.S., NATO and Afghan forces have poured into southern Afghanistan in recent months to try to rout Taliban from areas long ruled more by the militants than by the government of President Hamid Karzai. U.S. Marines and Afghan troops mounted a massive operation in the southern town of Marjah this spring and troops are increasing pressure in the southeastern province of Kandahar -- the birthplace of the former Taliban regime. With Karzai in Washington as part of a four-day U.S. visit, President Barack Obama was holding a series of closed-door meetings on Afghanistan and was due to meet with the Afghan leader on Wednesday. He has greatly expanded the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan since taking office, but plans to start drawing down troops in July 2011. The goal that is widely viewed as dependent on successful operations this summer.
Agence France-Presse photographer, Mauricio Lima, has been in Afghanistan for the last several months covering the war. Here is a look at some of his images from March and April. (21 images)
Agence France-Presse photographer, Mauricio Lima, has been in Afghanistan for the last several months covering the war. Here is a look at some of his images from March and April. (21 images)
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US Marines from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines and Afghan National Army soldiers move forward on foot patrol in a stronghold Taliban area in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on April 5, 2010. Nearly two months after US Marines led what was billed the biggest offensive against the Taliban in more than eight years of war, troops still come under daily fire from insurgents and bombs are still exploding. AFP / Getty Images / Mauricio Lima
A US Marines V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft kicks up dust as it takes off inside a US Marines base of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines in Marjah on March 22, 2010. AFP / Getty Images / Mauricio Lima
US Marines from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, set up a camouflage shade at their combat outpost in northern Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on April 17, 2010. AFP / Getty Images / Mauricio Lima
A US Marine from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, performs exercises at an outdoor improvised gym in front of a poster showing former professional bodybuilder, California's governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, at a base recently set up in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on April 4, 2010. Most US Marines involved in the operations against the Taliban in Marjah still have no laundry service and have not taken a proper shower since end of January. However, the place where they will spend more than a week, US Marines built an improvised outdoor gym using only raw materials they could find around them like wooden pole, pull-up bars, dip station, ammunition cases, truck chain and filled up sandbags. AFP / Getty Images / Mauricio Lima
US Marines interpreter, an Afghan national known as 'Mike,' center, works out with US Marines from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, at their improvised gym inside their base in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on April 8, 2010. The United States and NATO deploy 113,000 troops in Afghanistan, with another 40,000 due over the course of the year as part of a renewed strategy that emphasises development and the "reconciliation" of Taliban fighters. AFP / Getty Images / Mauricio Lima
3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, Sergeant Paul Williams, 20, of Fostoria, Ohio, poses to show his tattoos, including two bull dogs (or "Devil Dogs", a nickname used by US Marines to address eachother which was allegedly given to them by the Germans in the First World War), and lyrics from the Dire Straits song Brothers in Arms "Through these fields of destruction / baptisms of fire / I've witnessed all your suffering / as the battle raged higher", for a portrait at the entrance to a bunker at a base in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on March 20, 2010. For many Marines, frescoes on skin narrate their lives as soldiers and as men, exorcise their fears, honor their comrades and proclaim their loves. Tattoos are integral sub-culture in the US Marines but commanders have been preoccupied over the extent to which they should limit a phenomenon considered offensive in some cultures, particularly among the conservative Afghan Muslims. AFP / Getty Images / Mauricio Lima
Three US Marines from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines wash their uniforms inside a canal near their base in Marjah, Helmand province, on April 7, 2010. Most Marines involved in the operations against the Taliban in Marjah have no laundry service and haven't taken a proper shower in more than two months. AFP / Getty Images / Mauricio Lima
US Marines from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, shave their faces in front of small mirrors at their base after returning from a foot patrol in Marjah, Helmand province, on April 7, 2010. A single Afghan man was arrested by US Marines near the site where a roadside bomb blew up early in the morning, with a false Pakistan passport, two different Afghan identification cards, some wires wrapped on a few batteries, an old rifle and pamphlets of Taliban activities in Marjah. AFP / Getty Images / Mauricio Lima
US Marines anti-explosives squad team of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, blow up a roadside bomb after it was found by a sniffer dog, during a 48-hour operation in attempt to hold back insurgency activities in a stronghold Taliban area in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on March 31, 2010. AFP / Getty Images / Mauricio Lima
A US Marine convoy from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines steers alongside an inactive gas station in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on April 9, 2010. The United States and NATO deploy 113,000 troops in Afghanistan, with another 40,000 due over the course of the year as part of a renewed strategy that emphasises development and the "reconciliation" of Taliban fighters. AFP / Getty Images / Mauricio Lima
An Afghan National Army soldier prays during a foot patrol with US Marines from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines near a poppy field in a stronghold Taliban area of Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on April 5, 2010. AFP / Getty Images / Mauricio Lima
A US Marine is reflected in a front display device while scanning the eye of an Afghan poppy field owner as part of a census data collection by US Marines in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on April 9, 2010. US Marines have launched a program for Afghan farmers, which consists in changing their current poppy fields into fertilizing lands and to give them several types of seeds and money. AFP / Getty Images / Mauricio Lima
Two US Marines, left, from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, guard an Afghan detainee as an Afghan National Army soldier, center, talks with him, at their base in Marjah, Helmand province, on April 7, 2010. AFP / Getty Images / Mauricio Lima
Afghan poppy field owners gather for a census data collection by US Marines in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on April 9, 2010. AFP / Getty Images / Mauricio Lima
An Afghan girl looks towards US Marines from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines and Afghan National Army soldiers during a foot patrol in a stronghold Taliban area of Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on April 5, 2010. AFP / Getty Images / Mauricio Lima
Afghan elders listen to Marjah District Governor Haji Zahir, right, address a shura, or tribal council, as US Marines from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th stand guard outside in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on April 9, 2010. AFP / Getty Images / Mauricio Lima
Two Afghan National Army soldiers wash themselves at a canal while a sandstorm approaches in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on April 12, 2010. A sandstorm interrupted US military missions in the region for about six hours. AFP / Getty Images / Mauricio Lima
Afghan National Army soldiers cook rice as they prepare a dinner at a joint combat outpost with US Marines from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, in a stronghold Taliban area in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on April 6, 2010. AFP / Getty Images / Mauricio Lima
A US Marine, left, from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines uses a headlight set up in red color to read a book while his comrade share their plans for the day after at a joint combat outpost with Afghan National Army soldiers, in a stronghold Taliban area in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on April 6, 2010. AFP / Getty Images / Mauricio Lima
US Marines of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, take care of an Afghan detainee man before giving him a dinner, at their combat outpost which was used as a Taliban headquarters, during a 48-hour operation in attempt to hold back insurgency activities in a stronghold Taliban area in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on April 1, 2010. AFP / Getty Images / Mauricio Lima
An Afghan villager, third from the left, is questioned at nightfall by a US Marines from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines during a foot patrol with Afghan National Army soldier in a stronghold Taliban area in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, on April 5, 2010. AFP / Getty Images / Mauricio Lima
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