Women with red paint on their bodies participate in a rally to mark International Women's Day, in Bogota, Colombia on March 8, 2023. (Photo by Mahe Elipe/Reuters)

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.

Casket of Leibby Kletzky, a murdered eight-year-old boy who went missing from the Hasidic neighborhood of Borough Park, Brooklyn is carried during a procession on July 13, 2011 in New York City. After a two day search Kletzky's dismembered body was found partially in a suitcase inside a dumpster and partially in a refrigerator in a nearby apartment. Police detectives have taken Levi Aron, 35, into custody in connection to the killing. (Photo by Ramin Talaie/Getty Images)

This photo provided by Red Antler Processing shows the alligator sport hunting team made up of, from left, Tanner White, tag-holder Donald Woods, Will Thomas and Joey Clark as they hoist, with the help of a forklift, the longest alligator officially harvested in Mississippi, Saturday, August 26, 2023, at Red Antler Processing in Yazoo City, Miss. The male alligator weighed 802.5 pounds and measured 14 feet, 3 inches long, and its length broke the state record as the longest alligator ever caught, according to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. (Phoot by Shane Smith/Red Antler Processing via AP Photo)

Fans of Chris Mazdzer of the United States including his girlfriend Mara Marian (C) react following his third run during the Luge Men's Singles on day two of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Olympic Sliding Centre on February 11, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

“Derby”, Kentucky Gallahue's goldendoodle, of Point Loma, sporting a mohawk haircut and sunglasses, leaps off the surfboard during the 2018 Imperial Beach Surf Dog Competition next to the Imperial Beach Pier in San Diego, California on July 28, 2018. (Photo by Howard Lipin/San Diego Union-Tribune via ZUMA Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A man stands near smoke billowing from a brick kiln in Karachi, Pakistan, 14 December 2018. According to the UN report, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have increased for the first time in four years. The United Nations Conference COP24, held in Katowice, Poland, until 14 December 2018, searches for a common position in the fight against climate change. (Photo by Shahzaib Akber/EPA/EFE)

A runner takes part in the International World's coldest marathon at minus 53 degrees (–63.4 Fahrenheit) near Oymyakon, the republic of Sakha, also known as Yakutia, Russian Far East, Saturday, January 22, 2022. Sixty five runners, including athletes from the United Arab Emirates, United States and Belarus, started the run at extremely low temperature in Oymyakon, Yakutia's Pole of Cold. The international team of men and women ran full distance and half-marathon. (Photo by Ivan Nikiforov/AP Photo)