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.

Illustragram is a project created by brazilian Bruno Alves. In his drawings he incorporates real objects that interact with the characters, the results are adorable.

A coil-shaped Helix Nebula showing a fine web of filamentary “bicycle-spoke” features embedded in the colorful red and blue ring of gas. At 650 light-years away, the Helix is one of the nearest planetary nebulae to Earth. A planetary nebula is the glowing gas around a dying, Sun-like star. (Photo by Reuters/NASA)

A mine detection rat is given banana as a reward after successfully identifying an inactive mine on July 2, 2015 in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) working with the Belgian NGO APOPO has recently begun testing the feasability of using large mine detection rats from Tanzania to help clear fields of mines and unexploded ordnance in one of the most bombed and mined countries in the world. (Photo by Taylor Weidman/Getty Images)

A Nepalese boy gets ready to perform a stick dance during a rally held to pay tribute to the victims of an earthquake, in Bhaktapur, Nepal, Wednesday, September 2, 2015. Two powerful earthquakes in April and May devastated the Himalayan nation killing more than 8,800 people. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

Photographers take photographs of the Large Air Tanker (LAT) C-130 Hercules, also known as “Thor”, as it drops a load of around 15,000 litres during a display by the Rural Fire Service ahead of the bushfire season at RAAF Base Richmond Sydney, Australia, September 1, 2017. (Photo by David Gray/Reuters)

Kendall Jenner (L) and Hailey Baldwin attend Harper's BAZAAR Celebration of “ICONS By Carine Roitfeld” at The Plaza Hotel presented by Infor, Laura Mercier, Stella Artois, FUJIFILM and SWAROVSKI on September 8, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for Harper's BAZAAR)

Bella Hadid, Vittoria Ceretti and Gigi Hadid are seen backstage ahead of the Alberta Ferretti show during Milan Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2018 on September 20, 2017 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by WWD/Rex Features/Shutterstock)