A boy runs next to a portrait of Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, placed in celebration of the King's 88th birthday, in Bangkok, Thailand, December 5, 2015. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)

Fireworks explode above St. Basil's cathedral during a rehearsal for the “Spasskaya Tower” international military music festival at Moscow's Red Square, September 4, 2015. Military bands from different countries will participate in the annual tattoo starting on Sunday. (Photo by Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters)

Ukrainian platoon commander Mariia talks on the phone in a position in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Saturday, July 2, 2022. Ukrainian soldiers returning from the frontlines in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region describe life during what has turned into a grueling war of attrition as apocalyptic. Mariia, 41, said that front-line conditions may vary depending on where a unit is positioned and how well supplied they are. (Photo by Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo)

A Russian trenchmortar crew run to take up a new firing position in the Stalingrad area during the Great Patriotic War. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). October 1942

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 January 31, 2014 file photo released by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), shows residents of the besieged Palestinian camp of Yarmouk, queuing to receive food supplies, in Damascus, Syria. That year, the U.N. was able to deliver food to about five percent of people in besieged areas including Yarmouk, while today estimates show the organization is reaching less than one percent. (Photo by UNRWA via AP Photo)

Iranian Kurdish female members of the Freedom Party of Kurdistan (PAK) hold a position on November 6, 2016 in an area near the town of Bashiqa, some 25 kilometres north east of Mosul, during an operation against Islamic State (IS) group jihadists to retake the main hub city. (Photo by Safin Hamed/AFP Photo)