A dune buggy driver trains before competing in a sand dune drag racing event on January 8, 2016, as part of the Liwa 2016 Moreeb Dune Festival in the Liwa desert, some 250 kilometres southwest of Abu Dhabi. The festival, which attracts participants from around the Gulf region, includes a variety of races (cars, bikes, falcons, camels and horses) or other activities aimed at promoting the country's folklore. (Photo by Karim Sahib/AFP Photo)

A woman and her dogs stop and look at a store mannequin wearing a dog's head mask outside a fashion shop in Nice, France, May 3, 2016. (Photo by Eric Gaillard/Reuters)

French firemen wearing chemical protective suits take part in a mock chemical attack exercise at the Geoffroy Guichard stadium in Saint-Etienne, France, April 4, 2016 in preparation of security measures for the UEFA 2016 European Championship. (Photo by Robert Pratta/Reuters)

A South Sudanese model applies make-up during the Festival of Fashion and Arts for Peace in Juba August 9, 2014. (Photo by Andreea Campeanu/Reuters)

Policemen look at a wax figure of Rowan Atkinson, dressed as his popular television character Mr. Bean, on display outside a wax figure museum in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, August 24, 2014. (Photo by Alex Lee/Reuters)

This picture taken on September 3, 2014 shows a man taking pictures of floodwater released from the Three Gorges Dam, a gigantic hydropower project on the Yangtze river, in Yichang, central China's Hubei province, after heavy downpours in the upper reaches of the dam caused the highest flood peak of the year. Eleven people died and 27 others are missing after torrential rains battered southwest China's Chongqing, a municipality in the upper reaches of the Three Gorges Dam, causing thousands of houses to collapse, state media said. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)

A prisoner from the Pedrinhas prison is carried to receive medical help after he was injured during a fight between rival gangs inside the jail, in Sao Luiz, capital of Maranhao state, January 8, 2014. The recent posting on a major Brazilian news website of a video filmed last December 17 by Pedrinhas prisoners of the decapitated and tortured bodies of rival inmates inside the jail has highlighted some of the problems present in the country's prison system which houses nearly twice as many prisoners as its capacity, according to official statistics. (Photo by Douglas Cunha/Reuters/O Estado do Maranhão)

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.