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.

In this November 3, 2019, photograph a child with Down syndrome jokingly gestures to the audience while presenting ponchos displaying drawings inspired by children, during a fashion show dubbed “heART Couture” in Bucharest, Romania.Children with Down syndrome staged a fashion show and performed along a ballet ensemble, two milestone events for the inclusion of people with disabilities in Romania's social life, 30 years after the fall of communism following a violent uprising at the end of 1989. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)

Alice Goodridge (left) and Tanya Mackenzie (right), members of the Loch Insh Dippers wild swim group, take part in a Christmas-themed swim in the frozen Loch Insh, Kingussie, in the Cairngorms National Park, Scotland on Friday, December 13, 2024. (Photo by Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images)

A picture taken on October 5, 2018, shows a general view of Migingo island which is densely populated by residents fishing mainly for Nile perch in Lake Victoria, the continent's largest lake, on the border of Uganda and Kenya. More than 500 people live on the island, which is barely 2,000-square-metres. (Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP Photo)

The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) is seen in the sky over Muonio in Lapland, Finland on January 18, 2021. (Photo by Alexander Kuznetsov/Reuters)

Mechanic and welder Sergei Kulagin, 32, strengthens the bracing of a spider sculpture, made by Kulagin, during a demonstration on the wall of an automobile repair workshop in the town of Divnogorsk outside Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, October 15, 2014. Enthusiast Kulagin, who works as a mechanic of an automobile service station, created about 20 sculptures made of used car parts and components during his non-working hours. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

A child poses for a photo inside a life-sized doll box after watching the “Barbie” film at the SM North Edsa in Quezon City on July 19, 2023. (Photo by Jam Sta Rosa/AFP Photo)

In this Monday, March 10, 2014 photo, a 9,000 year-old mask is on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The exhibition called “Face To Face” shows eleven stone masks, said to have been discovered in the Judean desert and hills near Jerusalem, which date back 9,000 years and offer a rare glimpse at some of civilization's first communal rituals. (Photo by Tsafrir Abayov/AP Photo)