Space Shuttle Discovery is towed from the shuttle landing facility to the orbiter processing facility at Kennedy Space Center on April 20, 2010 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Discovery's landing attempts at KSC were scrubbed yesterday due to unacceptable weather conditions. Discovery is returning from a successful mission to the International Space Station. (Photo by Matt Stroshane/Getty Images). CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – APRIL 20 2010

“Osama bin Laden has been killed in an American operation in Pakistan, President Obama announced from the White House on Sunday, calling his death “the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al-Qaida”. In a statement delivered from the East Room, Obama said a small team of U.S. personnel attacked a compound in Pakistan's Abbottabad Valley, where bin Laden had been hiding since late last summer. The U.S. team killed the 54-year-old al-Qaida leader after a firefight and “took custody of his body”, Obama said.” – Nwsource.com

Photo: Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden in an undated photo. October 10, 2001. Afghanistan's ruling Taliban lifted restrictions on Bin Laden, giving him permission to conduct “Jihad”, or holy war, against Afghanistan's enemies. (Photo by Getty Images)

A reflection of the Alps mountain “Nordkette” is seen in the ski googles of Anders Bardal of Norway during the training round of the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup event at the 60th Four Hills ski jumping tournament at Bergisel on January 3, 2012 in Innsbruck, Austria. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)

A giant storm cloud can be seen in the sky above swimmers near Mollymook Beach, south of Sydney, March 5, 2014. (Photo by David Gray/Reuters)

When Ed Templeton was a young skateboarder in California, he took Polaroids of his friends smoking at their local park. Those pictures in 1994 were the start of a lifelong habit – Templeton has been capturing youngsters all over the world experimenting with cigarettes ever since. Here: Santiago, Chile, 2002. (Photo by Ed Templeton/Robert & Tilton Gallery, Culver City)

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.

An elephant dressed in a Santa Claus costume gives out gifts to students to mark the Christmas season at a school in Ayutthaya province on December 24, 2010. The event was held as part of a campaign to promote Christmas in Thailand. (Photo by Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP Photo)