A week in Afghanistan

For the past week the Channel 4 News team has been on the frontline of the Afghan elections.

The team has been with soldiers in Helmand to the hospital wards of Kandahar and into the halls of political power – it’s been a week of insight and analysis.

The pictures displayed were taken from our team based in Kabul, showing cameraman Soren Munk at work.  

On Monday we had a special report from inside one of the US army’s remote outposts on the Pakistani border. Nick Paton Walsh and cameraman Stuart Webb encountered the reality of the conflict as they came under heavy fire whilst on patrol with coalition forces.

On Tuesday we were on the frontline of Britain’s war. Guardian photographer Sean Smith spent weeks documenting British soldiers during the Panther’s Claw operation in the south of Afghanistan.

And Lindsay Hilsum accompanied the British ambassador across the country to see how confident Afghans were about the election campaign.

Nima Elbagir reported from the Mirwais hospital in Kandahar City on Wednesday. As the war on terror rages many ordinary civilians caught in the fighting are forced to wait days for treatment.

Back in London we bought together six people who all have a stake in the Afghan war. Did they think Britain’s presence in Afghanistan was part of the solution of part of the problem? Watch the debate here.

As election day finally arrived on Thursday Alex Thomson reported on Nato’s exit strategy – the Afghan National Army. But with their soldiers overworked and underpaid will the ANA really be prepared to take over operations within a year? 

President Karzai hailed the Afghan elections a success despite some violence across the country. Nick Paton Walsh found that many locals were undeterred by threats of violence.

Today the president and opposition rival Abdullah Abdullah have both claimed election victory. So who really won? Channel 4 News will be reporting on the latest election results at 7pm this evening.