Members of the New People's Army (NPA) female guerrillas perform a cultural show during the release of a Philippines army soldier in Sugbongcogon town, Misamis Oriental, southern Philippines, November 20, 2015. NPA spokesperson Allan Juanito warned that they will seize more soldiers to exchange them with the government as "Prisoners of war". (Photo by Froilan Gallardo/Reuters)

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 dog rests on a buffalo near Ravi River in Lahore, Pakistan, on Febuary 4, 2013. (Photo by Mohsin Raza/Reuters)

P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews).

A man waits for Queen Beatrix's abdication ceremony outside the Royal Palace in Amsterdam April 30, 2013. The Netherlands is celebrating Queen's Day on Tuesday, which will also mark the abdication of Queen Beatrix and the investiture of her eldest son Willem-Alexander. (Photo by Paul Vreeker/Reuters)

Members of the Wasteland Warriors from the movie “MadMax” pose during the Wacken Open Air festival on August 4, 2016 in Wacken, Germany. Wacken is a village in northern Germany with a population of 1,800 that has hosted the annual festival, which attracts heavy metal fans from around the world, since 1990. (Photo by Alexander Koerner/Getty Images)

A guide dangles a live chicken in front of a crocodile in the village of Bazoule, Burkina Faso, December 4, 2015. The villagers believe the crocodiles that live there are sacred. (Photo by Joe Penney/Reuters)

In this January 7, 2016, photo, conservationists of Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation hold a baby orangutan rescued along with its mother during a rescue and release operation for orangutans trapped in a swath of jungle in Sungai Mangkutub, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Last year's forest fires drove orangutans closer to the river bank, where they had to live in an over-populated swath of forest as thin as 30 meters wide along the river. (Photo by Dita Alangkara/AP Photo)

A workman smooths out the gravel near the base of British artist Alex Chinneck' latest sculpture “A bullet from a shooting star” on the Greenwich Peninsula in London on September 17, 2015. The 35-metre tall, upside-down electricity pylon overlooks the Canary Wharf financial district. (Photo by Leon Neal/AFP Photo)