Children attend a war safety awareness class conducted by civil defence members, in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Numan town in Idlib province, Syria May 14, 2016. (Photo by Khalil Ashawi/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.

Pablo Holcer tests out a VR system made by Neurable that allows the user to control with their thoughts as the EEG headset interprets thoughts into actions in the VR environment at SIGGRAPH 2017 in Los Angeles, California, July 31, 2017. (Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)

Nana Takano and Kaito Toyoshima, winners of the Shanghai preliminary and Asian Championship, compete in the final of the World Tango Championship final in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 27 August 2024. (Photo by Juan Ignacio Roncoroni/EPA)

Emilia Pechinkova, a 24-years-old Bulgarian Pomak (Bulgarian speaking Muslims) bride poses for a photograph following the “gelina” or face painting ceremony carried out by female guests and relatives in preparation for her three-day wedding ceremony in the village of Draginovo, 100 kms southeast of Sofia on April 22, 2016. Bulgaria's Muslim population is one of the highest in the European Union. During the Communist regime religious rituals were not tolerated, and Muslims were forced to abandon wearing their traditional wedding outfits. Recently, more young Pomak women want to include traditional wedding customs that were forbidden during the regime, regardless of their secular lifestyles and the high cost of such a wedding. (Photo by Nikolay Doychinov/AFP Photo)

“Life-size humanoid robot BERTI (Bristol EluMotion Robotic Torso number 1 or RT-1) is a self contained, fully automated Robotic Torso, designed and built by Elumotion to provide a robotic platform based on human anatomy. RT-1 is a highly articulated manipulating platform and includes novel dexterous hands that allow emulation of human gesturing”. – Elumotion.com

Photo: BERTI the robot interacts with a Sony AIBO robot dog at The Science Museum's Antenna Gallery on February 17, 2009 in London. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

“We've reached 40km.” – Participants run at the 40km mark of the 2025 Chosun Ilbo Chuncheon Marathon, held in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, South Korea on the afternoon of the October 26, 2025. (Photo by Park Seong-won)

Samba dancers arrive to perform ahead of the athletics competitions of the 2016 Summer Olympics at the Olympic stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, August 14, 2016. (Photo by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)