Visitors wear shirts with an image of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong at the Shanghai World Expo site in Shanghai, May 2, 2010. (Photo by Aly Song/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.

A basket of olives sits in an olive tree field in La Rinconada, near the Andalusian capital of Seville September 24, 2012. (Photo by Marcelo del Pozo/Reuters)

Activists from climate action group Ocean Rebellion demonstrate in St Ives Harbour, ahead of the G7 summit, in St Ives, Cornwall, Britain, June 9, 2021. (Photo by Tom Nicholson/Reuters)

Picture of British socialite, known for her association with financier and convicted sеx offender Jeffrey Epstein Ghislaine Maxwell rubbing Jeffrey Epstein's feet (undated photo). Maxwell and Epstein were in a relationship but prosecutors allege they remained close after it ended. The photo was entered into evidence during the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, accused of sеx trafficking, in New York City. (Photo by PA Wire Press Association)

This photo taken on December 2, 2015 shows a lenticular cloud forming as white streaks from airplanes mark the blue sky, in a rare atmospheric phenomena above the town of Gevgelija on December 2, 2015. Lenticular clouds have been regularly confused for UFOs throughout history due to the their smooth, round or oval lens-shaped structure. (Photo by Armend Nimani/AFP Photo)

Models Lara Stone, Doutzen Kroes, CEO of l'Oreal Cyril Chapuy, Actress Eva Longoria, Models Karlie Kloss and Isabeli Fontana attend amfAR's 22nd Cinema Against AIDS Gala, Presented By Bold Films And Harry Winston at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on May 21, 2015 in Cap d'Antibes, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/amfAR15/WireImage)

Pedestrians look at a Maurician oil tanker Tresta Star stranded on Tremblet coast in Saint-Philippe, south-east of the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, on February 4, 2022 after the passage of the tropical cyclone Batsirai as the island was placed under a cyclonic red alert. (Photo by Richard Bouhet/AFP Photo)