In this September 30, 2017 photo, people perform “transvestite target practice” to protest the killings of transvestite prostitutes during the annual LGBQT march in Asuncion, Paraguay. Advocacy groups fear the stigma and attacks against the LGBQT community could get worse now that the country's education minister has banned classes about sexual diversity in schools and even volunteered to help burn all books related to the subject. (Photo by Jorge Saenz/AP Photo)

These images capture the intricate details of minuscule snowflakes, moments before they melt. The shots were taken by Don Komarechka, 31, who has had a lifelong fascination with all things macro – especially snowflakes. The professional photographer says people often don’t believe that his pictures are real because they’re so perfect. (Photo by Don Komarechka/Caters News Agency)

In this February 22, 2018 photo, a couple looks at a bag made out of Venezuelan Bolivars in La Parada, Colombia, on the border with Venezuela. Each collector item produced by Richard Segovia, sitting at the table, fetches between $10 and $15 – a huge markup from the pennies that bolivars retrieve on Venezuela's black market. (Photo by Fernando Vergara/AP Photo)

Samba dancers perform during the annual Asakusa Samba Carnival in Tokyo, Japan August 27, 2016. Asakusa is a district in Taitō, Tokyo. The neighborhood is famous for its annual Brazilian style carnival. There is a significant Brazilian presence in the local community and the Association of Samba Schools of Asakusa is based there. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Alligator trapper Mark Whitmire prepares an alligator he caught in a lagoon on a golf course to relocate it to a more natural environment in Orlando, Florida, U.S., June 19, 2016. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

U.S. Army soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment deployed to Combat Outpost Sabari, Afghanistan scan their area as they begin a multi-day air assault mission near the Pakistani border of eastern Afghanistan's Khost province May 2, 2012. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Joshua L. DeMotts/U.S. Air Force)

People have their photographs taken as they throw fallen leaves in autumn colours in Tokyo on November 13, 2022. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/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.