Participants take part in a New Year's Jump into the Sea in Portoroz , Slovenia, January 1, 2016. (Photo by Srdjan Zivulovic/Reuters)

A man demonstrates outside Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's news conference at Trump Tower in New York, U.S., May 31, 2016. (Photo by Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

A military band prepares to play the national anthems before Cuban President Raul Castro welcomes U.S. President Barack Obama at the Palacio de la Revolucion in Havana March 21, 2016. Barack Obama on Sunday became the first US president in 88 years to visit Cuba, touching down in Havana for a landmark trip aimed at ending decades of Cold War animosity. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

A woman takes pictures as Britain driver Lewis Hamilton steers his Mercedes during the third free practice at the Monaco racetrack, in Monaco, Saturday, May 26, 2018. The Formula one race will be held on Sunday. (Photo by Luca Bruno/AP Photo)

Workers sleep on a railway track under repair in New Delhi, India, June 15, 2018. (Photo by Saumya Khandelwal/Reuters)

Hannan Iskandar gets ready before she starts to drive her car in her neighborhood, in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia on June 24, 2018. Saudi Arabia ended its longstanding ban on women driving on June 24, 2018 – and the second the clock struck midnight, women across the country started their engines. (Photo by Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters)

Members of the grounds crew try to catch a cat that got loose on the field during the eighth inning between the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on August 2, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Adam Hunger/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.