Members of a cheerleading team warm- up during the Russian Cheerleading Championship of students in Moscow on November 20, 2016. (Photo by Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP Photo)

A labourer pulls a cart loaded with sacks of spices at a wholesale spice and chemical market in the old quarters of Delhi, India, December 19, 2016. Picture taken December 19, 2016. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)

Students rush past the bodies of inmates outside the Croix-des-Bouquets Civil Prison after an attempted breakout, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, February 25, 2021. At least seven people were killed and one injured on Thursday after eyewitnesses told The Associated Press that several inmates tried to escape from a prison in Haiti’s capital. (Photo by Dieu Nalio Chery/AP Photo)

Winner, photojournalism. Elephant in the room, by Adam Oswell, Australia Zoo. Visitors watch a young elephant performing underwater. Oswell was disturbed by this scene, and organisations concerned with the welfare of captive elephants say performances like this encourage unnatural behaviour. In Thailand, there are now more elephants in captivity than in the wild. With the Covid pandemic causing tourism to collapse, elephant sanctuaries are becoming overwhelmed with animals that can no longer be looked after by their owners. (Photo by Adam Oswell/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021)

A model presents a creation from the Versace Fall-Winter 2022/2023 collection during Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, February 25, 2022. (Photo by Alessandro Garofalo/Reuters)

Miss Nord-Pas-de-Calais Camille Cerf (C) is congratulated by Miss Ile de France 2014 Margaux Savary (L) and Miss Auvergne 2014 Morgane Laporte after Cerf won the Miss France 2015 beauty contest on December 6, 2014 in Orleans. (Photo by Guillaume Souvant/AFP Photo)

A participant of the sled dogs race in action with the dogs in Stroehen (Lower Saxony), Germany, 18 October 2015. It is the first round of the North German Championship. (Photo by Peter Steffen/EPA)

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.