Tank crew standing in front of M-4 tank, Ft. Knox, Kentucky, June, 1942. (Alfred Palmer/OWI/LOC)

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.

Relatives of the Palestinians, who lost their lives as a result of the Israeli attacks on the public market in the Sheikh Ridan neighborhood where people were waiting for aid, mourn as the dead bodies are brought the Al-Shifa Hospital for burial process on August 13, 2025 in Deir Al Balah, Gaza. (Photo by Mahmoud Issa/Anadolu via Getty Images)

On the July 10, 2025, an elderly couple in Eonam-dong, Jung-gu, Daejeon, who finished their field work, cooled off by sitting on a bench in the yard near the water tap. (Photo by Shin Hyeon-jong)

A squirrel begs for food from a scooter driver in a park in Moscow on September 2, 2025. (Photo by Alexander Nemenov/AFP Photo)

This photograph shows installing of the artwork of Venezuelan-US artist Alex Da Corte titled “Kermit the Frog, Even” at Place Vendome in Paris, on October 19, 2025, ahead of the official opening of the Art Basel contemporary and modern art market. (Photo by Dimitar Photo)

An employee builds up the figure of the Queen of Hearts from the movie Alice in Wonderland (2010) in the immersive exhibition “Tim Burton's Labyrinth” in Berlin on July 8, 2024. From July 19, 2024, the international exhibition ”Tim Burton's Labyrinth” can be experienced at the Radsetzerei in Berlin. (Photo by Ronny Hartmann/AFP Photo)