Fireworks explode in the hands of a protester launching it at the Lebanese Central Bank building as frustrated depositors rally against Central Bank's Gov. Riad Salameh, who is facing corruption charges, and the deepening financial crisis in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, March 24, 2023. (Photo by Hassan Ammar/AP Photo)

A model prepares backstage before the Heaven Gaia Collection show by designer Xiong Ying during the China Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2022 Collection at the 751D.PARK on September 03, 2021 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Yanshan Zhang/Getty Images)

Palestinians stand near a damaged vehicle, near the site where a number of Palestinians were killed in an Israeli raid, in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on March 11, 2025. (Photo by Raneen Sawafta/Reuters)

Model Alessandra Ambrosio is seen at Coachella Music & Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club on Friday, April 14, 2017, in Indio, Calif. (Photo by Hollywood To You/Star Max/GC Images)

New Market traders rescue an injured shopkeeper who got hurt during a clash with students from Dhaka college in Dhaka on April 19, 2022. (Photo by Munir Uz Zaman/AFP 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.

Students exercise in body training at Bishan Vocational Education Center in Chongqing, southwest China, January 13, 2016. These students were trained to be stewardesses of the high-speed train. (Photo by Xie Jie/Xinhua)

In this photo posted on Twitter, Sunday, May 3, 2015, and provided by NASA, Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti sips espresso from a cup designed for use in zero-gravity, on the International Space Station. Cristoforetti, the first Italian woman in space, fired up the first espresso machine in space, which uses small capsules, or pods, of espresso coffee. (Photo by AP Photo/NASA)