Elsa, Dolly, Jeanie, Vince, Titch and Bailey savour seaside smells at Reculver Towers and Roman Fort, Kent, United Kingdom on February 23, 2021. The southeast of England will be warm again. (Photo by Liz Gregg/Triangle News)

A driver pulls a handgun on protesters after they broke his trucks lights on March 28, 2021 in Salem, Oregon. The protesters clashed with occupants of vehicles that had participated in an American flag-waving car caravan, despite law enforcements efforts to to keep the groups separate. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Myanmar's Theiri Aung, seen in action during the women's sepak takraw semifinal against Vietnam, at the Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, on May 17, 2022. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

Women react after a deadly blaze in the early hours of the morning, in Johannesburg, South Africa on August 31, 2023. (Photo by Shiraaz Mohamed/Reuters)

(L-R) Sofía Vergara and Heidi Klum attend Netflix's Primetime Emmy afterparty at Hilex on September 15, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Roger Kisby/Getty Images for Netflix)

Following a large air raid by German bombers, local people, coming out of their air raid shelters found a bus standing on end in a large crater, in Balham, London, October 15, 1940. (Photo by AP 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.

In this photo taken Tuesday, February 2, 2016, asylum seekers gather round a fire as they cook a meal overlooking the temporary Altnes camp refugee camp on the island of Seiland, northern Norway. Waiting for their asylum claims to be processed, hundreds of people in emergency shelters in Hammerfest and neighboring towns are slowly getting used to the extreme climate and unfamiliar customs of the High North. They say they have adapted to the cold – the temperature rarely drops below minus 10 degrees C (14 F) along the coast, though it gets much colder further inland. It’s the darkness that throws them off. (Photo by Alastair Grant/AP Photo)