Andre Krumbiegel drives in a «SIL» pointed plough through the pink fog of a smoke body in Saxony, Germany on October 2, 2019. The occasion is the forthcoming Eastern Bloc meeting on 6 October in Großhartmannsdorf, to which motor vehicles and commercial vehicles from former socialist countries can be brought, exhibited and demonstrated. Photo by Sebastian Kahnert/dpa-Zentralbild/Keystone)

An actor performs during the show “Paris de Nuit” in Santiago, Chile, 20 September 2016. The show is a combination of cabaret and circus, produced by the Recirquel Contemporary Circus Company from Budapest, and will be performed at the Mapocho Cultural station from 20 to 25 September. (Photo by Mario Ruiz/EPA)

Three Japanese tourists had to abandon plans to drive to Stradbroke Island off the Queensland coast when their hire car became bogged in mangrove mud, on March 15, 2012 near Stradbroke Island, Australia. (Photo by Chris McCormack/Fairfax Media).

A woman dancing on the Sphinx. A pyramid can be seen in the background. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). 1928

The Jinshanling Great Wall is seen after a rainfall on March 31, 2022 in Chengde, Hebei Province of China. (Photo by Zhou Wanping/VCG via Getty Images)

A view of the silhouettes of people, passing across a bridge over the frozen Lake Murat, trying to go on their daily lives despite the cold during winter season in Agri, Turkiye on February 10, 2025. (Photo by Abdullah Soylemez/Anadolu 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.

Milena Jami whips her llama to win the first place in the a race for children of ages seven and eight at the Llanganates National Park, Ecuador, Saturday, February 8, 2020. Wooly llamas, an animal emblematic of the Andean mountains in South America, become the star for a day each year when Ecuadoreans dress up their prized animals for children to ride them in 500-meter races. (Photo by Dolores Ochoa/AP Photo)