Highlanders with 4th Battalion, the Highlanders, the Royal Regiment of Scotland, provide security while Afghan local police conduct vehicle and personnel searches in Lashkar Gah District, Helmand province, July 20. The battalion has recently stepped up its patrol presence to counteract insurgent activity in its area of operations. “We take out the local police and unformed police on our patrols and checkpoints,” said Highlander Lee Mortimer, 4 SCOTS, and a native of Wales, Scotland. “We try to only provided security while they conduct the actual searches of persons and vehicles.”