Kenya's Reynold Cheruiyot (centre L) and Britain's athlete Jake Wightman fall after crossing the finish line in the men's 1500m final during the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on September 17, 2025. (Photo by Jewel Samad/AFP Photo)

Uruguay's Julia Paternain reacts after crossing the finish line to win the bronze medal in the women's marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Sunday, September 14, 2025. (Photo by Matthias Schrader/AP Photo)

Wax figures, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, US President Donald Trump and Taylor Swift, in the entrance line at Madame Tussaud's in London on July 30, 2020, as the attraction prepares to reopen to the public following the easing of lockdown restrictions in England. (Photo by Kirsty O'Connor/PA Images via Getty Images)

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 group of tattooed women from the Muun tribe who inhabit the hills of the Arakan state. The design, known as the letter B-pattern, is common in the Mindat area. It is composed of dots, lines and occasionally circles, in February, 2015, in Myanmar, Burma. With spider webs, B-patterns and crossed lines painstakingly inked on their faces these stunning photographs show the tattooed women of Burma. French photographer Eric Lafforgue travelled to the Chin, Rakhine and Arakan states of northwestern Myanmar to capture the rare facial designs. (Photo by Eric Lafforgue/Barcroft Media)

An employee works on the automobile assembly line of a Citroen C3 car at the PSA Peugeot Citroen plant in Poissy, near Paris, France, April 29, 2015. PSA Peugeot Citroen said on Wednesday its revenue rose in the first quarter as the recovering French carmaker's efforts to raise prices helped offset weaker volumes. (Photo by Benoit Tessier/Reuters)

A man covered with thermal blanket walks along railway tracks beside an improvised refugee camp on the border line between Macedonia and Serbia near the northern Macedonian village of Tabanovce, Thursday, March 10, 2016. Around 1.500 migrants and refugees are stranded at Tabanovce transit center for refugees in northern Macedonia. (Photo by Boris Grdanoski/AP Photo)

A spectator at the Maslenitsa car battle, reacts during a clash, in the village of Goroshki, some 35 kilometers from Minsk, Belarus, 12 March 2016. The battle which is held at the Historical and Cultural Complex, Stalin line, is a small local competition, with participants from Belarus and Russia. (Photo by Tatyana Zenkovich/EPA)