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.

Attnedees dressed in Zombie outfits walk down the Gaslamp Quarter outside of the 2015 Comic-Con International in San Diego, California July 8, 2015. (Photo by Sandy Huffaker/Reuters)

In this photo taken Saturday, January 24, 2015, a child makes a face while having her photo taken with the snow covered slopes of the Nanshan ski resort behind her in Beijing. As Beijing makes a final push in its bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics, Chinese President Xi Jinping says winning the bid will encourage over 300 million Chinese to take up winter sports by 2022, according to state-run Xinhua News agency. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

Two traditional folk dancers performing in Teheran, Iran. (Photo by Keystone Features/Getty Images). 25th January 1961

A couple is walking hand-held up Kronsberg, just outside Hanover, Germany on April 7, 2020, when the moon rises on the horizon as the so-called supermoon. The moon reaches its perigee, i.e. the point closest to the Earth's orbit, on the night of 7-8 April as a full moon and therefore appears particularly large to the human observer. (Photo by Julian Stratenschulte/dpa via ZUMA Press)

A protester raises her fist at the entrance of Highway 280 and S. 4th St. as people protest the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in downtown San Jose, Calif., on Friday, May 29, 2020. (Photo by Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

A priest sprinkles holy water on a believer during the Orthodox Easter service in the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral in the rebel-controlled city of Donetsk, Ukraine on May 2, 2021. (Photo by Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)

People walk to the Venezuela Aid Live concert that will play on the Colombian side of the border near the Simon Bolivar International Bridge, from San Antonio del Tachira, Venezuela, Friday, February 22, 2019. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)