A woman holds piles of vegetables transported by motorcycle along a street in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on January 22, 2020. (Photo by Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP Photo)

Pakistani Rangers take part in the beating retreat ceremony at the India-Pakistan Wagah border post, about 35 km from Amritsar on March 9, 2022. (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP Photo)

A farmer competes in a traditional bull race at Swabi on February 18, 2024. (Photo by Abdul Majeed/AFP 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.

A combination photo shows Fata Kovacevic reacting near her flood-damaged house during floods May 20, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

Israeli police officers are about to push away a demonstrator during a protest against Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside his residence in Jerusalem, Israel, early Sunday, August 9, 2020. (Photo by Ariel Schalit/AP Photo)

Sir Argus, centre, with Brian Hayes up, jumps the first during the Guinness Beginners Steeplechase, alongside eventual winner Mars Harper, right, with Sam Ewing up, during day four of the Galway Races Summer Festival at Ballybrit Racecourse in Galway, Ireland on August 3, 2023. (Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile)

Police haul a youth to the paddy wagon as an undetermined number of arrest were made in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, February 25, 1971, as police moved in to disperse black youths after windows were broken and rocks and fruit thrown in what officers called “a major disturbance”. (Photo by Charles Kelly/AP Photo)