College students wearing traditional Punjabi attires celebrate the “Teej” festival in Amritsar on August 4, 2023. (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP Photo)

Students from the private school Gabriel stand in line as they prepare to start their school day in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, January 9, 2024. (Photo by Odelyn Joseph/AP Photo)

A boy takes his basset hound for a walk with a difference in Noosa, Australia on Saturday, March 9, 2024, during the annual Surf Dog Championships. (Photo by Roberta Holden/Solent News)

An exhibitor takes a photo with a Huawei Mate 10 Pro during the 2018 CES in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. January 9, 2018. CES, the world's largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs through January 12 and features about 3,900 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to more than 170,000 attendees. (Photo by Steve Marcus/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)

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.

Kylie Jenner is seen on November 02, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)

Athlets run during the women's 3000 meter steeplechase at the International Athletics Meeting in Lucerne, Switzerland, 14 June 2016. (Photo by Alexandra Wey/EPA)