A soldier from The Parachute Regiment with a member of the Afghan National Army on operational deployment in Zabul Province, Afghanistan, in 2008

Digital photograph by Sergeant Ian Houlding, Royal Logistic Corps, 2008.

In 2008 the 3rd Battalion of The Parachute Regiment, part of 16 Air Assault Brigade, were deployed to the mountainous province of Zabul, near the border with Pakistan.

The British airborne soldier demonstrates the underslung grenade launcher fitted to his SA80 rifle to an Afghan soldier armed with an aged assault rifle.