A dog takes a rest under a destroyed house at a site where a landslide swept through a residential area at Asaminami ward in Hiroshima, western Japan, August 20, 2014. At least 36 people, including several children, were killed in Japan on Wednesday, when landslides triggered by torrential rain slammed into the outskirts of the western city of Hiroshima, and the toll could rise further, police said. Seven people were missing after a month's worth of rain fell overnight, loosening slopes already saturated by heavy rain over the past few weeks. (Photo by Toru Hanai/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.

“MS Herald of Free Enterprise was a roll-on roll-off (RORO) car and passenger ferry owned by Townsend Thoresen. She was one of three ships commissioned by the company to operate on the Dover–Calais route across the English Channel. The ferry capsized on the night of 6 March 1987, moments after leaving the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, killing 193 passengers and crew. This was the deadliest maritime disaster involving a British ship in peacetime since the sinking of the Iolaire in 1919”. – Wikipedia

Photo: The wreck of the Herald of Free Enterprise, which capsized near Zeebrugge on the 6th of March 1987. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). 1987

A view of lava crossing the main road to Grindavík and flowing on the road leading to the Blue Lagoon, in Grindavík, Iceland, Thursday, February 8, 2024. A volcano in southwestern Iceland has erupted for the third time since December and sent jets of lava into the sky. The eruption on Thursday morning triggered the evacuation the Blue Lagoon spa which is one of the island nation’s biggest tourist attractions. (Photo by Marco Di Marco/AP Photo)

Romanian soldiers take part in a joint military exercise with NATO members, called “Agile Spirit 2015” at the Vaziani military base outside Tbilisi, Georgia, July 21, 2015. Georgian soldiers along with U.S. marines and platoon-size units from Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania are taking part in the exercises at the Vaziani military base outside Tbilisi. (Photo by David Mdzinarishvili/Reuters)

Operations & Exercises, 1st place. An RAF Voyager aircraft sits in the harsh winter weather at Mount Pleasant Complex, Falkland Islands, while personnel work to ensure the snow is cleared. (Photo by Sgt Andy Holmes/2020 RAF Photo Competition)

A woman runs across the street next to an anti-tank constructions in central Kyiv, Ukraine on March 10, 2022. (Photo by Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

Air France airplane from Air France-KLM Group arrives at Princess Juliana international airport on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin at Maho Beach, Sint Maarten on February 12, 2023. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock)