Aeroflot employees with a puppy at the canine service of Aeroflot at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow Region, Russia on October 2, 2020, that has started to train service dogs to detect COVID-19 in people. (Photo by Vladimir Gerdo/TASS)

This artist's rendering illustrates the evaporation of HD 189733b's atmosphere in response to a powerful eruption from its host star. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope detected the escaping gases and NASA's Swift satellite caught the stellar flare. (Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center)

Police are highly visible at the Notting Hill carnival with several arrests, stop and search and a “knife detection gate” in operation, August 27, 2018 in west London, England. 133 arrests were made at the carnival yesterday with 20 knives seized. (Photo by South West News Service/Action Press/Picturedesk)

Members of the media film as a ranger performs a post mortem on the carcass of a rhino after it was killed for its horn by poachers at the Kruger national park in Mpumalanga province August 27, 2014. Rhino poachers in South Africa now risk giving themselves away when they shoot thanks to a high-tech, gunfire-detection system being piloted in the country's flagship Kruger National Park. The stakes are high, for rhinos are being slain in escalating numbers for their prized horns, alarming both conservationists and the government since wildlife in South Africa is an important tourist draw. (Photo by Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters)

Spot, a robot with dog-like movements, walks past a dog in Cathedral Square in Erfurt, Germany on April 20, 2021. Security service provider Ciborius, a provider of robotic security solutions with artificial intelligence, presented its artificial employee with high-resolution 360-degree all-round camera, ultra-bright LED light and a light detection system on Domplatz. (Photo by Michael Reichel/dpa)

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 resident removes mud on a street brought by monsoon rains in San Mateo, Rizal, Philippines, August 14, 2016. (Photo by Erik De Castro/Reuters)

Amy Rimmer, Research Engineer at Jaguar Land Rover, demonstrates the car manufacturer's Advanced Highway Assist in a Range Rover, which drives the vehicle, overtakes and can detect vehicles in the blind spot, during the first demonstrations of the UK Autodrive Project at HORIBA MIRA Proving Ground in Nuneaton, Warwickshire on Friday October 21, 2016. (Photo by Fabio De Paola/PA Wire)