Leo, an orphaned Sumatran orangutan, is taken to the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme rehabilitation centre. Leo will join other orangutans who have been reintroduced to the Pinus Jantho nature reserve. The SOCP has gradually formed a completely new wild population of species that have been threatened with extinction. (Photo by Sutanta Aditya/Barcroft Images)

A Scottish Highland bull on the loose in New Milford, Connecticut on Tuesday, February 18, 2025. (Photo by Caitlin Mandracchi/AP Photo)

Milwaukee Brewers' Andruw Monasterio is douced by Willy Adames while being interviewed by Sophia Minnaert after the 10th inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies Wednesday, August 9, 2023, in Milwaukee. The Brewers won 7-6. (Photo by Morry Gash/AP Photo)

A donkey is seen before the start of the procession of the “Virgem da Atalaia” during Holy Week at Alcochete, near Lisbon April 5, 2015. Women ride donkeys during the “Virgem da Atalaia” procession, that has been held annually for about 400 years. In the past, only single women rode the donkeys to ask for help from the Virgin to find a husband. (Photo by Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

An archer in a samurai warrior costume aims at a target in the Asakusa Yabusame horseback archery event at Sumida Park in Tokyo, Saturday, April 18, 2015. (Photo by Shizuo Kambayashi/AP Photo)

Contestants of a tattoo competition pose for photographs at the China TATTOO convention in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, October 24, 2015. The annual convention was held in Nanning from October 23 to 25 this year. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

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.

Spanish soldiers of the 7th Airborne Light Infantry Brigade “Galicia” fire a howitzer Light Gun L118 during maneuvers with other units in preparation to NATO's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) in Zaragoza, Spain, April 19, 2016. (Photo by Javier Cebollada/EPA)