Thai residents party after sunset in the water on a flooded street along the swollen Yom river August 24, 2011 Phinchit, Thailand. The death toll has climbed to over 37 as 13 provinces remain flooded with 1.5 million affected. In Phinchit 110,000 people's homes have been flooded by nearby overflowing rivers. (Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

Victorian stuffed animals created by taxidermist Walter Potter at Potter's Museum of Curiosity in Bolventor, Cornwall. Potter created tableaux based on nursery rhymes, among them, “The House That Jack Built”, “The Guinea Pigs Cricket Match”, and “The Death and Burial of Cock Robin”. (Photo by Graham French/BIPs/Getty Images). 5th April 1973

Participants sit on a cable chair as they take part in the 30th edition of the Belalp Witches Ski Race on January 14, 2012 in Belalp, Switzerland. The race is inspired by a legend dating back to the middle ages, of a witch who tormented villagers in the area until she was burnt to death. (Photo by Harold Cunningham/Getty Images)

A coffin in the shape of a skip is displayed at the South bank Centre on January 20, 2012 in London, England. A collection of bespoke coffins by “Crazy Coffins” in Nottingham and the famous “Pa Joe” workshop in Ghana are currently on display at the South Bank centre, who are currently running a festival celebrating life and death. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Yulin, a city in southern China, celebrates the summer solstice by throwing a festival that involves the slaughter and consumption of as many as 10,000 dogs. Not everyone in China supports such practices, however; 65-year-old Yang Xiaoyun, a retired teacher who runs an animal shelter in Tianjin, traveled more than 2,400 km (1,500 miles) and spent more than 7,000 yuan ($1,100 or €990) to save 100 dogs from certain death.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews dance next to a bonfire during celebrations for the Jewish holiday of Lag Ba-Omer in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighbourhood May 25, 2016. This day marks the hillula (celebration, interpreted by some as anniversary of death) of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, a Mishnaic sage and leading disciple of Rabbi Akiva in the 2nd century, and the day on which he revealed the deepest secrets of kabbalah in the form of the Zohar (Book of Splendor), a landmark text of Jewish mysticism. (Photo by Ronen Zvulun/Reuters)

A spider monkey eats a mango at the Paraguana zoo in Punto Fijo, Venezuela July 22, 2016. Some 50 animals have starved to death in the last six months at one of Venezuela's main zoos due to chronic food shortages that have plagued the crisis-stricken South American nation. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/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.