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.

World War II veteran Jack W. Schlegel, 91 years-old, from Mount Tremper, New York, of the 508th Parachute Infantry Division of the 82nd Airborne who parachuted near Sainte-Mere-Eglise on June 6,1944, poses with American and French flags as he visits the American War cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, on the Normandy coast June 2, 2014. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

Women porters load bundles onto their back for transport across the El Tarajal boarder separating Morocco and Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta, in Ceuta on December 4, 2014. Unemployment among Ceuta and Melilla's native workforce is more than 30 percent – among the highest rates in Spain. Meanwhile, authorities say some 30,000 Moroccan traders and menial workers cross into each territory every day. (Photo by Jorge Guerrero/AFP Photo)

Turkana tribesmen walk with guns to protect their cattle from rival tribes near Baragoy, Kenya August 4, 2017. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

Barrier tape is tied around 15-month-old Shivani's ankle to prevent her from running away, while her mother Sarta Kalara works at a construction site nearby, in Ahmedabad, India, April 19, 2016. Kalara says she has no option but to tether her daughter Shivani to a stone despite her crying, while she and her husband work for 250 rupees ($3.8) each a shift digging holes for electricity cables in the city of Ahmedabad. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

Somali government soldiers hold their positions during gunfire after a suicide bomb attack outside Nasahablood hotel in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, June 25, 2016. Somalia's al Shabaab Islamist group launched a suicide bomb attack on a hotel in the center of Mogadishu on Saturday before fighters stormed inside, police and the militant group said. Police said at least 15 people had died, including guards at the site, civilians and militants. Others were wounded. (Photo by Feisal Omar/Reuters)

South Korean Lee Jung-sook (L), 68, wipes the tears from her North Korean father Lee Heung-jong, 88, as they bid each other a sad farewell at a resort on Mount Kumgang, North Korea, 22 October 2015. About 390 South Koreans arrived at the resort two days ago for the first face-to-face reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War in nearly 20 months. A second group of some 260 South Koreans will do the same for three days starting on 24 October. (Photo by Yonhap/EPA)

A biker rides in a “Ride for Pride” event to show support for the Confederate flag in Brandon, Hillsborough County, June 26, 2015. Several hundred people took part in the event. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters)