Morocco player Yassine Bounou's son, Isaac, plays on the pitch after the country's World Cup win against Portugal at Al Thumama Stadium in Doha, Qatar on December 10, 2022. (Photo by Carl Recine/Reuters)

Li Yuming, a local farmer who is interested in scientific invention, works on his unfinished miniature submarine “Xiaguang V” on the outskirts of Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei province August 24, 2007. “Xiaguang V”, which is 3-metre long, 1.2-metre in height, has a maximum diving depth of 20 metres, and can hold two adults and one child at the same time. The submarine will be used for tour after safety test, local media said. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

A purple haze of heather as the sun rises over the New Forest near Lyndhurst, Hampshire in UK on July 28, 2025. (Photo by Steve Hogan/Bournemouth News)

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.

Alien-themed decorations are seen at the Alien Research Center in Hiko, September 19, 2019. Scores of UFO enthusiasts converged on rural Nevada for a pilgrimage of sorts to the U.S. installation known as Area 51, long rumored to house government secrets about alien life, as law enforcement officials beefed up security around the military base. (Photo by Jim Urquhart/Reuters)

Artist Pyotr Pavlensky sits on the wall enclosing the Serbsky State Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry after he cut off a part of his earlobe during his protest action titled “Segregation” in Moscow October 19, 2014. Pavlensky protested against the usage of forensic psychiatry for politically motivated purposes. He cut off his earlobe to demonstrate how authorities could “cut off” an unwanted individual from society by using psychiatric and medical diagnosis to forcefully send a person to a penitentiary hospital, according to Pavlensky. (Photo by Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters)

In this picture taken on November 28, 2016, a hot-air balloon carrying tourists sails over the archeological site at sunrise in Bagan. Located in central Myanmar, Bagan is home to more than 2,000 ancient Buddhist monuments deeply revered in the Buddhist-majority nation and is one of the country's most popular tourist destinations. (Photo by Dale De La Rey/AFP Photo)

Tournament officials use golf carts to coax an alligator off of the 17th fairway and back into the water during the third round of the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Saturday, April 24, 2021. (Photo by Gerald Herbert/AP Photo)