In Pictures
A Chinook helicopter flies in low over Nad e-Ali for a dawn troop insertion [Picture: Major Paul Smyth, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
Royal Welsh soldiers set off from the helicopter insertion site on a mission in support of Operation BAMBIRIK [Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
A Chinook helicopter takes off after inserting troops of 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh in the area of operations [Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
A British Army sniper from 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh provides overwatch during Operation BAMBIRIK in the north east Nad e-Ali region of Helmand province [Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
Soldiers use a wall for cover following their insertion by Chinook helicopter [Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
Soldiers survey the area of operations from the treeline during Operation BAMBIRIK [Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
Soldiers of 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh's Mobility Recce Force blend seamlessly into the landscape during a patrol in Nad e-Ali, Helmand province [Picture: Major Paul Smyth, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
British Army snipers from 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh provide overwatch during a patrol in Nad e-Ali [Picture: Major Paul Smyth, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
Members of 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh's Mobility Recce Force during Operation BAMBIRIK in Nad e-Ali, Helmand province [Picture: Major Paul Smyth, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
A member of 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh on a joint patrol with soldiers of the Afghan National Army in support of Operation BAMBIRIK [Picture: Major Paul Smyth, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
An Afghan soldier checks his weapon's ammunition clip during a joint patrol with British troops in Nad e-Ali in support of Operation BAMBIRIK [Picture: Major Paul Smyth, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
An Afghan soldier poses for a photograph [Picture: Major Paul Smyth, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
A soldier of 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh crouches against a wall during a patrol in Nad e-Ali, Helmand province [Picture: Major Paul Smyth, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
Soldiers of 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh use the walls of a dried-up irrigation ditch as cover during Operation BAMBIRIK [Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
A soldier of 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh during Operation BAMBIRIK [Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
A British Army Mastiff armoured vehicle approaches a vehicle checkpoint in the Shawzad region of Helmand province [Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
A huge armoured Mastiff vehicle overshadows a young Afghan boy, pushing his wheelbarrow on his way to fetch water from the village well, in the Shawzad region of Helmand province [Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
Soldiers from Drums Platoon, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, man a vehicle checkpoint [Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
British soldier carries out a vehicle check at a checkpoint during Operation BAMBIRIK [Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
Grenadier Guardsmen question Afghan men at a vehicle checkpoint [Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
Afghans involved in a regeneration project in the Shawzad region of Helmand province [Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
Soldiers of the Grenadier Guards Battle Group and the Military Stabilisation Support Team stop to talk with local workers involved in a regeneration project in the Shawzad region of Helmand province [Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
The counter-improvised explosive device team rest following an exhausting day of searches during Operation BAMBIRIK [Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]