This picture taken on October 20, 2016 shows students practising wushu at the Tagou martial arts school in Dengfeng. China is investing hugely in football training and has vowed to have 50 million school- age players by 2020, as the ruling Communist party eyes “football superpower” status by 2050. (Photo by Nicolas Asfouri/AFP Photo)

Flames from the County fire burn above Cache Creek Casino Resort on Saturday, June 30, 2018, in Capay, Calif. (Photo by Noah Berger/AP Photo)

Tango instructor Fernando Waisberg (R) and Isabella Waisberg (L) pose for a photograph during a Tango lecture session in Taipei, Taiwan, 14 April 2019 (issued 18 April 2019). Taiwan has developed its own Tango, with a strong Japanese influence; the accompanying music features lyrics in Taiwanese and Mandarin, the pace slower and simpler than the original. Taiwanese Tango is now a popular phenomenon among people over 40, and is also a subject little studied inside and outside of the island. (Photo by Ritchie B. Tongo/EPA/EFE)

Some runners fall during the “El Pilon” running-the-bulls in the village of Falces, Navarra, northern Spain, 16 August 2022. “El Pilon” running-the-bulls is held on a hill where runners have to avoid the herd of cows on a 800 meter long and narrow slope with the mountain on one side and a steep cliff on the other. (Photo by Peio H/EPA/EFE)

Two girls run through the heavy rain as people head out to Wind Street in Swansea, Wales to celebrate Halloween on Monday, October 31, 2022. (Photo by Robert Melen)

People of the LGBTQI community pose for a photo on a large rainbow colored flag as they take part in the parade to mark Thailand Pride Festival 2022 in Bangkok, Thailand, 27 November 2022. Thailand's LGBTQI groups and foreigners attended the Pride festival to raise awareness and promote sexual diversity and equal rights for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) community. The festival also aims to promote tourism in Thailand as Covid-19 restrictions are being lifted, with hopes to becomes an annual and sustainable event in November. (Photo by Narong Sangnak/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A resident walks past big waves spilling over a wall onto a coastal road in the city of Legaspi in Albay province, south of Manila on December 14, 2015, as typhoon Melor approaches the city. More than 700,000 people fled the central Philippines amid threats of giant waves, floods and landslides as powerful Typhoon Melor approached the archipelago nation, officials said December 14. (Photo by Charism Sayat/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.