Women walk on a sidewalk in northern Tehran, Iran, Thursday, January 9, 2020. (Photo by Vahid Salemi/AP Photo)

A US soldier (C) point his gun towards an Afghan passenger at the Kabul airport in Kabul on August 16, 2021, after a stunningly swift end to Afghanistan's 20-year war, as thousands of people mobbed the city's airport trying to flee the group's feared hardline brand of Islamist rule. (Photo by Wakil Kohsar/AFP Photo)

German troops in Stalingrad, USSR. September 10, 1942. (Photo by TASS)

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.

Former “The Hills” star Audrina Patridge and her on again, off again boyfriend Corey Bohan get into a huge fight after attending Matthew Morrison's Halloween Party at Hyde Nightclub in West Hollywood, California on October 25, 2014. Audrina and Corey, who recently split up this past summer, seemed to be in great spirits before the party started but afterwards it was a whole different story! The not so happy couple argued on a bench and at one point a visibly upset Audrina sat on the sidewalk crying! (Photo by FameFlynet)

An army tank fires during a firefight against militants linked to al Qaeda near the southern Yemeni city of Zinjibar May 30, 2012. (Photo by Reuters/Yemen's Defence Ministry)

Villagers play traditional games as they take part in a Chyrachka rite during the Shrovetide celebration in the village of Tonezh, some 280 km of Minsk, on March 10, 2019. Chyrachka is a kind of birds that live in this area. (Photo by Sergei Gapon/AFP Photo)

In this Tuesday, March 12, 2019 photo, a visitor takes part in an immersive experience showing visitors how dogs see from inside the head of a dog at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. A new exhibit at a Los Angeles museum examines the relationship between dogs and humans and explores why the two species seem to think so much alike and get along so well. “Dogs! A Science Tail” opens Saturday, March 16, 2019, at the California Science Center. (Photo by Richard Vogel/AP Photo)