Arisa Trew of Australia competes during the women's skateboarding park final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, August 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (Photo by Frank Franklin II/AP Photo)

A man rides a horse at a playground on a hill in Kabul April 19, 2015. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)

A participant of the sled dogs race in action with the dogs in Stroehen (Lower Saxony), Germany, 18 October 2015. It is the first round of the North German Championship. (Photo by Peter Steffen/EPA)

A topless woman walks through Bryant Park following the protest march called the GoTopless Day Parade Sunday, August 23, 2015, in New York. The parade took to the streets to counter critics who are complaining about topless tip-seekers in Times Square. Appearing bare-breasted is legal in New York. But Mayor Bill de Blasio and police Commissioner Bill Bratton say the body-painted women in the square who take photos with tourists are a nuisance. (Photo by Kevin Hagen/AP Photo)

Passengers brave the strong winds as they wait for a bus, in Hong Kong, Monday, September 15, 2014. The Hong Kong Observatory issued the number 8 southeast storm signal, as Typhoon Kalmaegi edges closer to Hong Kong. (Photo by Kin Cheung/AP Photo)

A girl jumps to touch cherry blossoms in full bloom in Fussa, outskirts Tokyo, Japan, 05 April 2014. Temperatures being very constant made blossoms to keep full bloom for holiday makers. (Photo by Kimimasa Mayama/EPA)

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.

Vehicles clog a highway during a hazy day in Beijing, China, Wednesday, February 26, 2014. Beijing remained cloaked in hazardous white pollution hiding much of its skyline Wednesday, despite the announced closures or production cuts at 147 of the city's industrial plants. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)