A woman plays with her three dogs at the beach after sunset in Del Mar, California, USA on November 10, 2017. (Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)

A boy bursts a soap-bubble at Gorky Park in Moscow on July 19, 2017. (Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP Photo)

Revellers enjoy themselves during Hogmanay celebrations in Edinburgh, Scotland on December 31, 2017. (Photo by Russell Cheyne/Reuters)

A woman gets a pedicure in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on October 13, 2017. (Photo by Andres Martinez Casares/AP Photo)

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.

Casket of Leibby Kletzky, a murdered eight-year-old boy who went missing from the Hasidic neighborhood of Borough Park, Brooklyn is carried during a procession on July 13, 2011 in New York City. After a two day search Kletzky's dismembered body was found partially in a suitcase inside a dumpster and partially in a refrigerator in a nearby apartment. Police detectives have taken Levi Aron, 35, into custody in connection to the killing. (Photo by Ramin Talaie/Getty Images)

Roland Miller is on a mission to document the deserted sites of America’s space race. He has photographed launch pads, bunkhouses and research facilities across the country, some of which no longer exist or are closed to the public on secure military bases. His book, “Abandoned in Place”, is published by the University of New Mexico Press in March. Here: Launch Pad and Gantry with Hermes A-1 Rocket – V2 Launch Complex 33, White Sands missile range, New Mexico in 2006. (Photo by Roland Miller)

A protester uses his laptop computer in the “Occupy LSX” camp outside St. Paul's Cathedral ahead of a demonstration against higher tuition fees and privatisation in universities on November 9, 2011 in London, England. Around 4000 police officers are on duty and are to be allowed to deploy baton rounds if needed. The march is expected to finish at London Wall in the heart of the capital's financial district. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)