Region in focus: March 09, 2016

Broadcasters for Radio Shaesta prepare themselves to go on-air, in Kunduz, Afghanistan. Najim Rahim / AP Photo

Civilians and security forces gather as municipality workers remove destroyed vehicles at the scene of a deadly suicide bomb attack in Hillah, Iraq. Anmar Khalil / AP Photo

A Sabean Mandaean cleric prays for a groom during a mass wedding near the banks of the Tigris River in Baghdad, Iraq. Karim Kadim / AP Photo

Syrian refugee Mohammed al-Shareef, 20, who fled with his family from Damascus, Syria, performs a breakdance on the Mediterranean waterfront promenade in Beirut, Lebanon. Bilal Hussein / AP Photo

Friba Hameed, 30, an Afghan police officer, poses for a photograph in front of a mural of herself, painted by an independent artist, outside the main gate of a police precinct to mark International Women's Day in Kabul, Afghanistan. Rahmat Gul / AP Photo

Hiroshi Aoyama of Japan and HRC Test Team head down a straight during the MotoGP tests at Losail Circuit in Doha, Qatar. Mirco Lazzari gp / Getty Images

A Pakistani girl lights an oil lamp at a local shrine in suburbs of Islamabad, Pakistan. B.K. Bangash / AP Photo

A rebel fighter sits on a look-out point with his weapon in Al-Lataminah village, northern Hama countryside, Syria. Ammar Abdullah / Reuters

An Iraqi shepherd herds sheep in a cemetery on the banks of the Tigris River in the village of Wana. Safin Hamed / AFP

Afghan girls play on a swing in Kabul, Afghanistan. Ahmad Masood / Reuters

An Afghan refugee waits in abandoned house before traveling to the Greek island of Chios, in Cesme district, Izmir, Turkey. Sedat Suna / EPA

The best images from the last seven days from around the Gulf and across the Middle East.