Defeated candidates from Afghanistan's September 2010 election wait for the resumption of proceedings of a special tribunal in a Kabul courtroom on Thursday. The tribunal decided that 62 members of Parliament would be replaced on fraud charges. Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP hide caption

Gulab Mangal, the governor of Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, says his security forces are ready to take control in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah. Quil Lawrence/NPR hide caption

A Pakistani worker labors on a machine in a factory in Kabul, producing boots for the Afghan National Police and Afghan National Army. Higher wages and, in some cases, better security in Afghanistan have drawn workers from Pakistan. Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

Afghanistan-bound NATO trucks park on the roadside in Pakistani tribal area of Khyber last October. Whenever there is a problem with international relations, Pakistan closes the border, which keeps supplies from getting to the NATO forces in Afghanistan. But logisticians are constantly assessing other routes — not only through Pakistan, but also from Central Asia. Mohammad Iqbal/AP hide caption

Former Afghan intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh was among the prominent speakers at the Kabul protest. Kamran Jebreili/AP hide caption

Cpl. Andrew Collins springs into action seconds after a rocket is fired at the outpost in Charkh, Afghanistan. Combat Outpost Charkh sees as much action as anywhere in Afghanistan, but it's in Logar province, not far from the capital, Kabul. David Gilkey/NPR hide caption