A boat paddles behind a fence near a plane sitting on the flooded tarmack of the closed Don Muang airport November 3, 2011 in Bangkok,Thailand. The airport was used as a domestic terminal and was formerly the International airport. Thailand is experiencing the worst flooding in over 50 years and has affected more than nine million people. Over 400 people have died in flood-related incidents since late July according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

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.

U.S. soldiers from the 3rd Cavalry Regiment take part in an artillery exercise on forward operating base Gamberi in the Laghman province of Afghanistan December 24, 2014. (Photo by Lucas Jackson/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.

Indian ivory furniture legs in the shape of a goddess from the first century AD are displayed in the 'Afghanistan Crossroads of the Ancient World' exhibition at The British Museum on March 1, 2011 in London, England. Displaying treasures that were in great danger during the years of civil war and Taliban rule, these surviving artifacts reveal Afghanistan's ancient culture, its fragility and its remarkable place in world history. The exhibition opens to the public on March 3 and runs until July 3, 2011. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images). LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 01

A Taliban fighter poses for a picture holding a flower before offering Friday noon prayers in Kabul, Afghanistan on October 1, 2021. (Photo by Bulent Kilic/AFP Photo)

People look up at a dead body hanged by the Taliban from a crane in the main square of Herat city in western Afghanistan, on Saturday September 25, 2021. A witness told The Associated Press that the bodies of four men were brought to the main square and three of them were moved to other parts of the city for public display. The Taliban announced in the square that the four were caught taking part in a kidnapping and were killed by police. (Photo by AP Photo/Stringer)

U.S. Army soldiers carry an injured soldier who was shot in the leg, through a poppy field on April 24, 2011 in the Arghandab River Valley, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. The injured was evacuated to a waiting Blackhawk UH-60A helicopter by Task Force Thunder Brigade, Charlie company 1st of the 52nd Aviation regiment from Fairbanks, Alaska. It is feared that as weather improves with the approaching summer that the casualty toll will rise. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)