The Boeoegg, a giant symbolic snowman made of wadding and and filled with firecrackers burns on top of a bonfire in Sechselaeuten square on April 24, 2017 in Zurich. When the bells of the Saint Peter's church chime six o'clock, the bonfire under the snowman is set in fire and the guildsmen wearing historical costumes ride around the bonfire. The faster the head of the snowman explods the warmer and more beautiful the summer will be. (Photo by Michael Buholzer/AFP Photo)

People participate in a winter fishing event in Changchun, Jilin province, China, December 25, 2016. Picture taken December 25, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

French actress Frederique Bel arrives for the NRJ Music Awards ceremony at the Festival Palace in Cannes December 13, 2014. (Photo by Eric Gaillard/Reuters)

A shop assistant creates a window display in a Next store in central London December 30, 2014. British clothing retailer Next's sales rose 2.9 percent in the run up to Christmas mostly due to online and catalogue purchases, hitting the upper end of its predictions and it said full-year profit would rise by about 11.5 percent. (Photo by Neil Hall/Reuters)

People pour wine at each other during the traditional “Battle of Wine” held as part of the Haro Wine Festival in the La Rioja region in Haro, Spain, 29 June 2016. Every year on 29 June inhabitants and tourists celebrate San Pedro's day by trowing at each other thousands of liters of Riojan wine. (Photo by Abel Alonso/EPA)

Dr. Anton Lim is interviewed by the media as he holds Kabang, a two-year-old injured mixed breed, upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay city, south of Manila, Philippines, early Saturday June 8, 2013 from San Francisco, Calif. Kabang lost her snout and upper jaw saving two girls' lives in the Philippines was headed back to its owner following treatment at the University of California, Davis veterinary hospital. (Photo by Bullit Marquez/AP Photo)

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 dead wild boar is seen during a hunt in Castell'Azzara, Tuscany, central Italy, October 23, 2015. Extinct across much of the country by the end of the 1800s, the number of wild boar in Italy has almost doubled over the past decade and there are now about a million roaming the country, environmental and agricultural associations say. (Photo by Max Rossi/Reuters)