John Hawkley and his wife Patty Hawkley stand next to their 2,058 pound pumpkin and celebrate after winning the 41st Annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off on October 13, 2014 in Half Moon Bay, California. John Hawkley of Napa, California won the 41st Annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off and broke a state record with his gigantic pumpkin weighing in at 2,085 pounds. Hawkley took home a cash prize of $12,510, or $6.00 a pound. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Workers reinforce the electric pylons at a flooded area as Typhoon Nepartak approaches in Xuancheng, Anhui Province, China, July 9, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Pakistani passengers ride on crowded train returning from their hometown and villages after celebrating the Eid al-Fitr holiday to mark the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, to Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, July 11, 2016. (Photo by K.M.Chaudary/AP Photo)

Storm clouds gather over the scene outside the Jewish Community Center in Leawood, Kansas following a shooting, on April 13, 2014. (Photo by John Sleezer/Kansas City Star/MCT)

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.

Ave, 4 years-old, of the United States, paints on her father's hand during the International Tattoo Convention Bucharest 2016 in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, October 16, 2016. Prominent tattoo artists from across the world displayed their skills in the Romanian capital over the weekend. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)

Turkana tribesmen walk with guns to protect their cattle from rival tribes near Baragoy, Kenya August 4, 2017. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

A priest is seen looking out of Abuna Yemata church’s only window. Priests cheerfully tell visitors that pregnant women, babies and old people attend Sunday services and no one has fallen off. (Photo by Ethiopia – The Living Churches of an Ancient Kingdom/The American University in Cairo Press/The Guardian)