Models walks the runway at the Stephan Pelger Show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin Spring/Summer 2012 at the Brandenburg Gate on July 9, 2011 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for IMG)

A model wearing a Maxime Rappaz design, winner of the Annabelle Award, walks the runway during the second day of the Charles Voegele Fashion Days on November 10, 2011 in Zurich, Switzerland. (Photo by The Image Gate/Getty Images for IMG)

Monks take a tiger out of its cage for an afternoon walk June 5, 2001 at the Wat Pa Luangta Bua monastery in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

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.

Cuban soldiers receive combat training at the Cadets School “Antonio Maceo” November 28, 2001, 30 kilometers East of Havana. (Photo by Jorge Rey/Getty Images)

Gong Yan of Team China flies out of the gate at the Para Alpine Skiing Men's Super Combined Super-G Standing at Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre during day three of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics on March 07, 2022 in Yanqing, China. (Photo by Joel Marklund for OIS/PA Wire)

In this photo taken October 16, 2012 and provided by Oracle Team USA, crew members of the capsized Oracle Team USA AC72 boat are rescued after being swept past the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The America's Cup champion syndicate is assessing the damage to its 72-foot catamaran, after it capsized and was swept by a strong current more than four miles past the Golden Gate Bridge before rescue boats could control it. (Photo by Guilain Grenier/Oracle Team USA/Associated Press)

A woman wearing a traditional Hanbok dress visits the Gyeongbokgung Palace grounds in Seoul on October 23, 2023. A woldae terrace for public rituals and ceremonies in front of Gyeongbok Palace’s Gwanghwamun gate was restored and opened to the public earlier this month, after being removed in 1923, during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial period. (Photo by Anthony Wallace/AFP Photo)