Roxy, a Red Labradoodle, Jaku, a Black and Tan Lurcher, Kobe, a White German Shepherd, Rocky, a Black and Tan German Shepherd, and Busy, an English Springer Spaniel Cross, queue outside an Aldi store in Hinckley, Leicestershire, UK on Monday, December 1, 2025. (Phoot by Lucy Ray/PA Media Assignments)

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)

Ramoncito Campo kisses his wife Hernelie Ruazol Campo on a flooded street during a southwest monsoon that battered Manila August 8, 2012. The newly-wed couple pushed through with their scheduled wedding despite severe flooding that inundated wide areas of the capital and nearby nine provinces. (Photo by Reuters/Courtesy of Ramoncito Campo)

Pals let their hair down for one last hoorah in Cardiff, capital of Wales on September 12, 2020. Groups of friends crammed into pubs and restaurants to “go out in style” before the “rule of six” is enforced on Monday. (Photo by Huw Evans Picture Agency/The Sun)

Filipa Martins of Portugal fails to grab the bar as she performs the uneven bars during the Women's All-Around Final at the 50th FIG Artis​tic Gymnastics World Championships in​ Kitakyushu, Japan, 21 October 2021. (Photo by Kimimasa Mayama/EPA/EFE)

An Afghan man cleans the his courtyard partially submerged in flood water following the flash floods after heavy rainfall in Guzara district of Herat province on March 13, 2024. (Photo by Mohsen Karimi/AFP Photo)

A municipality worker in a protective suit feeds street cats at Sultanahmet Square, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Istanbul, Turkey, April 9, 2020. (Photo by Umit Bektas/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.