Zarmina Ahmadi, 22, a female soldier from the Afghan National Army (ANA) aims her rifle during a military exercise at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan October 26, 2016. Kabul's military training academy is churning out classes of enthusiastic women to serve in Afghanistan's army, but the realities of rising violence and a conservative society make the future for the young recruits far from certain. In the latest class, some of the nearly 150 women training to be officers say they feel proud to be part of the effort to secure the country, still racked by an insurgency waged by Islamist militants to topple the Western-backed government. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





A female soldier from Afghan National Army (ANA) loads ammunition into a rifle magazine before a shooting exercise at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan October 26, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Female soldiers from the Afghan National Army (ANA) take part in a training exercise at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan October 26, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers carry their colleague, with a simulated injury, into an ambulance during a training exercise at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan October 26, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Sabera, 23, a soldier from the Afghan National Army (ANA) gestures during a shooting exercise at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan October 26, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Female Afghan soldiers Shreen Yawari, 24 (L), Zarmina Ahmadi, 22 (2nd L), Fatima Alimi, 21 (3nd L), and Zahra Sultani, 20 (R), rest after shooting exercises at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan, October 26, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers attend a lesson in a classroom at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan October 23, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Female soldiers from the Afghan National Army (ANA) attend a lesson in a classroom at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan October 23, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Zarmina Ahmadi, 22, a female soldier from the Afghan National Army (ANA) looks out from a bus window at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan October 26, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Female soldiers Mohazama Najebi, 18 (R), and Sahar Ibrahimi, 25 (L), from the Afghan National Army (ANA) pose for a picture after shooting exercises at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan October 26, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Second Lieutenant Roshan Gul, 22 (L), First Lieutenant Nelofar Frotan, 23 (C), and Second Lieutenant Morsal Afshar, 22 (R), work at the human resources office in the Ministry of Defence in Kabul, Afghanistan October 31, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





First Lieutenant for the Afghan National Army (ANA), Zainab Baqiri Shayan, 24, speaks with her colleagues in the radio operating department at the Ministry of Defence in Kabul, Afghanistan, October 31, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





First Lieutenant in the Afghan National Army (ANA), Zainab Baqiri Shayan, 24, poses for a picture at her radio operating desk in the Ministry of Defence in Kabul, Afghanistan, October 31, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Model soldiers are seen, in a class at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan October 23, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Female soldiers Karima Mohamadi, 21 (L), and Tamana, 19 (R), from the Afghan National Army (ANA) clean their weapons at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan October 26, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Female soldiers from the Afghan National Army (ANA) play volleyball at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan, October 23, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Fatima Rezai, 21, a female officer from the Afghan National Army (ANA) practices with a punch bag during an exercise session at at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan October 23, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





A female soldier from the Afghan National Army (ANA), Fatima Zahra Akbari, 19, waits for her turn to receive a weapon before shooting exercises at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan October 26, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Female soldiers Zarmina Ahmadi, 22 (L), Adela Haidari, 23 (C), and Sabera, 21 (R), from the Afghan National Army (ANA) rest in their barracks at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan October 26, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Female soldier, Parwana Naji, 19, from the Afghan National Army (ANA) at the gym at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan, October 23, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Female soldier Aghama Dehqanyar, 19 (L), prays inside a mosque at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan October 26, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Female soldiers from the Afghan National Army (ANA) wait to get food at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan October 23, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers collect their lunch at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan October 23, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Commander of female soldiers, Lieutenant Colonel Cobra Tanha, 45, stands in front of her soldiers at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan, October 23, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Afghan soldier Tamana, 19 (L), and commander for female soldiers Lieutenant Colonel Cobra Tanha, 45 (R), simulate an injury during a training exercise at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan October 26, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)





Commander for female Afghan soldiers Lieutenant Colonel Cobra Tanha, 45, leaves her office at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan October 23, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters).





Female soldier Mohazama Najebi, 18, from the Afghan National Army (ANA), prays inside a mosque at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC) in Kabul, Afghanistan, October 26, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)