In this Wednesday, December 2, 2015 photo, Dr. Gal Kelmer, head of the department of large animals, unties a horse after its operation at the University's Koret School of Veterinary Medicine in Rishon Lezion, Israel. “Horses have an instinctive response of flight from danger”, Kelmer said. “The minute they wake up they start trying to stand and run, even if they don't have control of their limbs. So then they fall”. (Photo by Oded Balilty/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.

Jockeys spur buffalos during the Makepung buffalo races at Jembrana in Bali, Indonesia on October 23, 2016. Makepung is a tradition for farmers to celebrate a bumper harvest in Bali. (Photo by Kadek Raharja/Xinhua/Barcroft Images)

A resident pulls back a rope with groceries tied to the end of it, delivered by community workers, at a residential compound under sealed management in Yichang, Hubei province, China on February 22, 2020. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

Zombie Punk stands for a photo during the International tattoo convention at Tobacco Dock in east London, Friday, September 27, 2019. (Photo by Aaron Chown/PA Wire Press Association via AP Photo)

This photo taken on March 10, 2022 shows a woman taking photos as people look at cherry blossoms in Nanjing in China's eastern Jiangsu province. (Photo by AFP Photo/China Stringer Network)

This photograph taken on June 20, 2021 and received courtesy of Radchadawan Peungprasopporn via her Facebook account on June 22, 2021 shows an elephant searching for food in the kitchen of her home in Pa La-U, Hua Hin. (Photo by Radchadawan Peungprasopporn/Facebook via AFP Photo)

People cool off in Crown Fountain in Millennium Park on August 12, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. As temperatures climb across the nation, nearly 200 million Americans are under some level of heat advisory. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)