Mariam, a 9-year-old girl, carries her brother as she stands with other children at an underground ancient cemetery in Jabal al-Zawiya in the southern countryside of Idlib November 26, 2014. Residents are using ancient caves and cemeteries as underground shelters to hide in during shelling from forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. Picture taken November 26, 2014. (Photo by Khalil Ashawi/Reuters)

A protester pours Coca-Cola on the face of a comrade to diminish the effects of tear gas during a crackdown by security forces on a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon's Thaketa township on March 19, 2021. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)

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 military helicopter flies over people during the Afghan Security Forces Exhibition, at the Darul Aman Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, March 3, 2021. The three-day military exhibition in Kabul allowed civilians to have a first hand view and take pictures of weaponry used by Afghan Security forces. (Photo by Rahmat Gul/AP Photo)

Willow O'Brien, 5, holds an Irish flag as she poses for pictures, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on Saint Patrick's Day in Dublin, Ireland, March 17, 2021. (Photo by Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters)

A young Matachin dancer sits on a the side during the annual pilgrimage in honor of Mexico's patron saint the Virgin of Guadalupe in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, December 12, 2016. (Photo by Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters)

French mounted bullfighter Lea Vicens is gored by her first bull and falls off her horse during the 31st day of the San Isidro bullfighting festival at Las Ventas bullring in Madrid, Spain, 10 June 2017. (Photo by Victor Lerena/EPA)

An empty cell block is pictured within Joint Task Force Guantanamo's Camp VI at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba March 22, 2016. (Photo by Lucas Jackson/Reuters)