People dodge waves in Sansha Township of Xiapu, southeast China's Fujian Province, July 10, 2015. China is on highest alert as super typhoon Chan-Hom approaches the eastern coast at high speeds. The National Meteorological Center issued a red alert on Friday morning for Chan-Hom, whose center was spotted 550 km southeast off the coast of Zhejiang Province at 5 a.m. (Photo by Jiang Kehong/Xinhua)

Framed by the setting sun, an American Bison grazes at the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve on Tuesday, April 28, 2015, near Strong City, Kan. The buffalo herd at Tallgrass is one of the few herds of wild bison left in the United States. (Photo by Travis Heying/The Wichita Eagle via AP Photo)

Thailand's badminton player Ratchanok Intanon, who hopes to win gold at the Rio Olympics, receives a massage during a morning training session at a gym in Bangkok, Thailand, June 22, 2016. As the humble daughter of factory workers at a Bangkok sweet-maker, badminton was a ticket out of poverty for Ratchanok Intanon, who hopes winning gold at the Rio Olympics might inspire more Thai girls to chase their dreams. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

Sunset on Brighton beach on February 24, 2019 in Brighton, England. (Photo by Andrew Hasson/Getty Images)

Festival goers on the first day of the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset, Britain on June 26, 2019. Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, west England, from 26 to 30 June 2019. (Photo by Yui Mok/PA Images via 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.

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)

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)