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.

A participant of the “Mrs Universe 2015” contest from Caribbean Coast, Mayra Joli poses for a photo with a woman during their visit in central botanical garden in Minsk, Belarus, August 25, 2015. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

Women Wrestlers, Bolivia. Lucha libre (Bolivian wrestling) is one of the most popular sports in the country. Women wrestlers are known as cholitas and have in the last ten years become popular in the sport. Here, Carmen Rosa and Yulia la Pacena perform in a benefit show to raise money for the bathrooms of a school in La Paz, Bolivia, 26 June 2011. (Photo by Daniele Tamagni)

A Bedouin rifleman hides behind his camel while he carefully takes aim in the Sahara desert. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images). Circa 1955

Soldiers of the 70th division of the American 7th Army hold up a Nazi flag and a portrait of Adolf Hitler, taken during the World War II capture of Saarbrucken. (Photo by Horace Abrahams/Keystone/Getty Images). 22nd March 1945

Despite any political differences between the United States and Russia, the space agencies of the two countries continue their cooperative work in Earth's orbit, aboard the International Space Station. Apart from the research being done in microgravity, ISS crew members continue to send back amazing images of our home world, photographed from low Earth orbit. Gathered here are recent images of Earth from aboard the ISS, and from a handful of other NASA satellites.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (3rd R) and wife Ri Sol Ju (4th L) enjoy an art performance given by the Chongbong Band to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on October 19, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/KCNA)

In April 2011 last factory in the world on manufacture of typewriters was closed. The epoch of typewriters has ended...

Photo: A model of a commercial typewriter from 1867. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). June 1923