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.

Children play on top of a cargo ship that was swept during the onslaught of Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban city in central Philippines November 2, 2015, ahead of the second anniversary of a devastating typhoon that killed more than 6,000 people in central Philippines. The front part of the ship was retained in the area and made into a memorial and will be inaugurated on November 8 to commemorate the second anniversary of Typhoon Haiyan. (Photo by Erik De Castro/Reuters)

A woman leaps while arriving to greet a loved one during CLEAR Connects: A Day of Families, a mass reunion event, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S., May 6, 2021. (Photo by Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

People ride a Ferris wheel as fireworks illuminate the sky over Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by David Cheskin/Press Association)

A young woman employee of North American Aviation Incorporated, working over the landing gear mechanism of a P-51 fighter plane, Inglewood, California, 1942. (Photo by Alfred T. Palmer/Buyenlarge/Getty Images)

In this photo provided by Jean Revillard, Solar Impulse 2, a plane powered by the sun's rays and piloted by Andre Borschberg, approaches Kalaeloa Airport near Honolulu, Friday, July 3, 2015. His 120-hour voyage from Nagoya, Japan broke the record for the world's longest nonstop solo flight, his team said. (Photo by Jean Revillard/Global Newsroom via AP Photo)

Online clothes seller, Kanittha Thongnak, 32, applies zombie makeup before she starts livestreaming selling dead people's clothes in Bangkok, Thailand on October 10, 2020. (Photo by Jiraporn Kuhakan/Reuters)

Children take part in the “Carnavalito” children's parade during the Blacks and Whites Carnival in Pasto, Colombia, on January 2, 2018. (Photo by Juan Barreto/AFP Photo)