Vice President of Lebanese Wildlife Alexandra Youssef, checks a fox at a vet clinic in Beit Mery, Lebanon on March 26, 2021. (Photo by Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)

Supporters of Lebanese President Michel Aoun hold up a giant Lebanese flag as he delivers a speech outside the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, October 30, 2022. Aoun left Lebanon's presidential palace Sunday marking the end of his six-year term without a replacement, leaving the small nation in a political vacuum that is likely to worsen its historic economic meltdown. (Photo by Bilal Hussein/AP Photo)

Washermen put their clothes out to dry on the banks of the River Yamuna as seen from a railway bridge near Agra, India, Saturday, December 17, 2022. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)

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)

Kazakh troops march during a parade of the armed forces to mark the Defender of the Fatherland Day in Astana, May 7, 2014. (Photo by Mukhtar Kholdorbekov/Reuters)

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 man tries on a face mask with his portrait printed on it, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at a photo studio in Gandhinagar, India, May 27, 2020. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

Dressed in ancient Chinese clothes, children at a local kindergarten dance and make traditional perfumed medicine bag to celebrate the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival, Ganyu district, Lianyungang city, east China's Jiangsu province, 19 June 2020. (Photo by Imaginechina via AP Images)