Throughout the course of the long war in Afghanistan, Coalition troops have relied on thousands of military working dogs to help keep them safe, and make their jobs easier. The dogs are trained to detect explosives, to find illegal drugs, to search for missing comrades, or target enemy combatants. Not only are they active on the front lines, but behind the lines they serve as therapy dogs, service dogs, and loyal companions. They also share the same risks as the ground troops, suffering injuries and sometimes death on the battlefields. Gathered here are images of these dogs and their handlers in Afghanistan and back home, from over the past several years, part of the ongoing series here on Afghanistan.

Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. walks near the Lunar Module during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity July 20, 1969 on the Moon. (Photo by NASA/Newsmakers)

A close up of a caracal lynx's face looking into a camera on January 2014 in Western Cape, South Africa. (Photo by Dale Morris/Barcroft Media)

Frontier soldiers run as a storm surge hits the coastline under the influence of Typhoon Fitow in Wenling, Zhejiang province, October 6, 2013. China issued a red alert ahead of Typhoon Fitow, which is expected to lash east of the country on Sunday evening. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

A woman poses next to two mailboxes along a street in Taipei on August 11, 2015 that were reportedly bent by strong winds brought by Typhoon Soudelor over the weekend. The two iron mailboxes have become an unlikely attraction, drawing thousands of snap-happy visitors and have even become a backdrop to a wedding photo shoot. The typhoon, which hit in the early hours of August 8 and was billed as the most powerful typhoon this year, uprooted trees, brought down electricity poles, knocking out power to a record 4.3 million households, while leaving eight dead and four missing. (Photo by Benjamin Yeh/AFP Photo)

A dressed up Oakland Raiders fan poses for photos as she arrives at Azteca stadium in Mexico City, Monday, November 21, 2016. The Oakland Raiders face the Houston Texans at a sold out Azteca stadium. (Photo by Dario Lopez-Mills/AP Photo)

A woman shoots her rifle at a forest shooting range near the village of Visnova, Czech Republic, June 9, 2016. (Photo by David W. Cerny/Reuters)

“Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation “The Cellar Tapes”, which also included Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Tony Slattery. With Hugh Laurie, as the comedy double act Fry and Laurie, he co-wrote and co-starred in A Bit of Fry & Laurie, and the duo also played the title roles in Jeeves and Wooster”. – Wikipedia

Photo: English comic Stephen Fry hosts the comedy revue “Hysteria 3” in support of the Terrence Higgins Trust, 1991. (Photo by Dave Hogan/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)