Iraqi security forces ride in vehicles travelling to Mosul to fight against militants of Islamic State at an Iraqi army base in Camp Taji in Baghdad, February 21, 2016. (Photo by Ahmed Saad/Reuters)

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.

Frida, a rescue dog belonging to the Mexican Navy, with her handler Israel Arauz Salinas, takes a break while participating in the effort to look for people trapped at the Rebsamen school in Mexico City, on September 22, 2017, three days after the devastating earthquake that hit central Mexico. (Photo by Omar Torres/AFP Photo)

Rescuers work to put out fire outside a damaged residential building hit by recent shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Artem, a serviceman of infantry battalion of the 61st mechanised brigade, pets a dog in a trench at a position near the frontline, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine on January 6, 2024. (Photo by Sofiia Gatilova/Reuters)

An Iraqi camel herder poses in the desert of Samawa in Iraq's southern province of al-Muthanna on January 27, 2024. (Photo by Hussein Faleh/AFP Photo)

Liverpool fans walk past a mural of the Beatle’s Abbey Road album ahead of the Carabao Cup final match between Liverpool and Chelsea at the Camp and Furnace venue in Liverpool, Britain, 25 February 2024. (Photo by Adam Vaughan/EPA)

Natalia, 51, a mother of three, serving as a combat medic in the 24th Mechanized Brigade takes part in a field training exercise in an undisclosed location in the eastern region of Ukraine, on March 18, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Roman Pilipey/AFP Photo)