Suat Demir, a 52-year-old parter, smokes a cigarette after finishing his work day in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, October 2, 2025. (Photo by Emrah Gurel/AP Photo)

Jimmy Bryan of Phoenix, Ariz., gets the checkered victory flag at the Indiana State Fairgrounds September 17, 1955 as he wins the “Hoosier Hundred” for the second consecutive year. Bryan averaged 83.98 miles an hour for the 100-lap, 100-mile AAA big car race. (Photo by AP Photo)

English-French actress Jane Birkin shopping with a basket bag in Paris on June 4, 1970. (Photo by WATFORD/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)

Houseboats and charter boats are docked in the ice in the harbor at Fischerhof Eldenburg in the Mecklenburg Lake District, northern Germany, Wednesday, February 19, 2025. (Photo by Jens Büttner/dpa)

The company selling wedding dresses with designs made of local and wild grass, exhibited its new collection with local and foreign models consisting of Mesopotamian motifs by organizing a fashion show at Dara Ancient City in Mardin, Turkiye on February 26, 2025. (Photo by Halil Ibrahim Sincar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The American skier Lindsey Vonn celebrates winning the women’s downhill race in the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup on December 12, 2025. She is joined on the podium by Moritz, the competition’s official mascot, named after the Swiss resort in which it is held. (Photo by Denis Balibouse/Reuters)

Spain's #02 Tania Moreno Matveeva digs the ball in the women's round of 16 beach volleyball match between Spain and Netherlands during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Eiffel Tower Stadium in Paris on August 5, 2024. (Photo by Aris Messinis/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.