Festival goers arrive for the Glastonbury festival at Worthy Farm, in Somerset, England, Thursday, June 23, 2016. (Photo by Guy Bell/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A fighter of Libyan forces allied with the U.N.-backed government runs for cover during a battle with Islamic State fighters in Sirte, Libya, July 31, 2016. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

A man holds his umbrella during snowfall on the Areopagitou pedestrian street beneath the Acropolis hill during snowfall in Athens, Greece, January 10, 2017. (Photo by Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters)

Penitent Jerry Mazon, 9, wears his “Morions” mask while playing with his baby brother during Holy Week celebrations in Mogpog, Marinduque in central Philippines March 22, 2016. (Photo by Erik De Castro/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 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 model presents a creation from the Fyodor Golan catwalk show at London Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 16 in London, Britain February 19, 2016. (Photo by Neil Hall/Reuters)