AYMAN OGHANNA

Baghdad, Iraq : Mon 25th Jan 2009 :..A girl cries after three bombs exploded within about 10 minutes during Baghdad's afternoon rush, killing her mother. Despite touted security improvements prior to the US Military withdrawal. Explosions and political violence remain a daily reality for Iraqis.

An unveiled Nithal Hussein, 19, at work a store renting wedding dresses in Baghdad's notorious slum, Sadr City.

TAL RIFAT: August 1st 2012:..Muhammad Abdul Qadr is buried a martyr in Tal Rifat, Aleppo province. Abdul Qadr defected from the Syrian Air Force to become a commander in the Free Syrian Army. He was killed in the battle for Aleppo.

A young couple in their bumper car in "Basraland," a recently opened amusement park in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. ..Iraq's second city, Basra is attracting development and foreign investment. It has become relatively stable. Security, however, has come at the expense of cosmopolitanism. It is now almost exclusively Shiite Muslim, it's Sunni, Christian and Mandaean communities have dwindled to near near extinction.

LT Eric Fitzgerald returns fire after being engaged by rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire from a compound on the banks of the Arghandab river, Kandahar province, Afghanistan...The soldiers are part of HAMKARI, NATO forces effort to take on the Taliban in its provincial birthplace of Kandahar.

ALEPPO: August 3rd 2012:..From Bab al Hadid, a marksman from the Free Syrian Army looks out to Aleppo's citadel, where Syrian Army snipers are positioned.

ALEPPO: August 3rd 2012:..In areas liberated by the Free Syrian Army, protestors took to Aleppo's streets to demonstrate against the Assad regime, following Friday prayers

Ashura Fire Ceremony in Najaf. Shiite ceremony during Ashura in the holy city of Najaf. The city is now an economic, cultural and political hub in Iraq tied to the ascent of Iraq's Shiites, once maligned and now Iraq's most powerful community.

Medic Jerod Carr draws his weapon on a dog on patrol outside of Command Operating Base Sarkari Bagh in the Arghandab valley, Kandahar province, Afghanistan. Foot patrols often mean long walks through difficult terrain and tight populated areas.

ALEPPO: August 3rd 2012:..In areas liberated by the Free Syrian Army, protestors took to Aleppo's streets to demonstrate against the Assad regime, following Friday prayers.

A family watches a new amusement park ride in Baghdad's Zawra Park.

After the ritual.

Baghdad, Iraq : Tue 12th Oct 2010 :..Baghdadis enjoying a show at the recently opened New Vision 4D cinema in Baghdad's Zayuna district.

Sirte, LIBYA: Monday 11th October 2011:..A rebel fighters climbs a ladder to look out at Gadaffi loyalist forces positions during fierce fighting in the the Libyan city of Sirte. Once rebels capture Sirte, Gaddafi's hometown, the National Transitional Council (NTC) say they will declare national liberation, even if Col Gaddafi remains at large.

A boy emerges through a passageway cracked through one of the columns of blast walls that line Sadr City a sprawling Baghdad slum home to three million people and bastion of the fearsome Mahdi army, a militia loyal to the fiery cleric Moktada al-Sadr. ...Ayman Oghanna for The New York Times

Untold Thousands. Baghdad, IRAQ: 16th Feburary 2011:..A non profit organization in Baghdad's Shoula neighborhood offers support and donates crutches and prosthetics to children injured by violence since the 2003 US-led invasion. Untold thousands have been wounded by rocket attacks, car-bombs and street fighting.

Baghdad's Lower East side. Men drink alcohol, smoke nargileh and watch belly dancers in Abu Nuwass. Baghdad's Lower East Side, Abu Nuwass is a riverside tree-lined street of seedy liquor-serving nightclubs and, fish restaurants and alcohol. Business is booming.

Family in Basra Center Supermarket

Iraqi Military photograph demonstrators. Ramadi, IRAQ: ..An Iraqi military policemen photographed demonstrators during anti-government demonstration in Iraq's Anbar province. ..Once occupied by American troops, the country today looks increasingly occupied by an authoritarian Iraqi military.

The Battle for Aleppo caption