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.

Cocoa Beach, Florida, USA. 7th October, 2016. Kaleigh Black, 14, left, and Amber Olsen, 12, run for cover as a squall with rain and wind pelt them while they explore the Cocoa Beach Pier on Friday (10/7/16) after hurricane Matthew passed to the east on Florida's east coast.(Photo by Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/ZUMA Wire/Alamy Live News)

In this June 8, 2015 photo, Omkarnath, who goes by the name “Medicine Baba”, pays his reverence at a neighborhood temple as he begins his day in New Delhi, India. The chatty, 79-year-old retired blood-bank technician has been collecting unused prescription drugs from the affluent for the past eight years, and distributing whatever hasn't expired to patients who need medicines they cannot afford. (Photo by Saurabh Das/AP Photo)

“On Friday, after something of a show trial, three young women in a Russian punk band were found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison for an anti-Vladimir Putin protest in a Moscow cathedral earlier this year”. – Daniel Schwartz via CBC News

Photo: A woman wears on her chest the text “free p*ssy riot” as a demonstration by supporters of the jailed feminist punk band p*ssy Riot takes place outside the Russian Embassy on August 17, 2012 in London, England. The three women who staged an anti-Kremlin protest in a church in February, were found guilty today of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, and could face a three-year jail sentence. Supporters are gathering in several cities around the world today as a mark of solidarity. (Photo by Dan Kitwood)

“Red Land: Sunset Cloud Village is one of the most picturesque places in Red Land, China. As its name indicates, it's best to see before sunset. The reddish brown soil turns redder after rainfall and after farmers plow the land”. (Photo and comment by Peng Jiang/National Geographic Photo Contest via The Atlantic)

A man carrying an axe walks past a house marked with bullet holes in Gyallesu district after recent clashes between Shi'ites and the army in Zaria, Kaduna state, Nigeria, February 3, 2016. Sectarian tensions are rising in Nigeria's Muslim north, where hundreds of Shi'ites were killed in clashes with the army in the town of Zaria in December, according to Shi'ites and rights groups. Following the clashes, bulldozers sent by the state levelled Shi'ite shrines, a cemetery and offices in the deeply divided town. The region is already grappling with an insurgency waged by the jihadist Boko Haram group. (Photo by Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters)

Ethnic Miao men wearing traditional masks smear dust on a woman's face to wish her good luck during local celebration event for Lunar New Year in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, February 16, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

A member of the “Castellers Minyons de Terrassa” adjusts her belt before forming a human tower or ÒcastellÓ during the festival of the patron saint of Barcelona “The Virgin of Mercy” at Sant Jaume square in Barcelona, Spain, September 20, 2015. The formation of human towers is a tradition in Catalonia dating back to the 18th century. (Photo by Susana Vera/Reuters)