Hong Kong's He Jianxin performs at the Wushu Women's Nandao competition for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Tuesday, September 26, 2023. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

A photo taken on October 20, 2024, shows various patterns left on the beach after the ebb tide at the Yanghe Estuary wetland in Jiaozhou Bay in Qingdao, Shandong province, China. (Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Hotel guides jump as they pose for pictures outside the Great Hall of the People during the opening session of the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, China, March 5, 2016. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

Participants stretch their bodies as they pose for pictures before the Beijing International Marathon in Beijing, China, September 20, 2015. About 30,000 runners participated in the annual running event. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Firefighters use flashlights to search for survivors among the rubble of collapsed buildings after a landslide hit an industrial park in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China December 20, 2015. (Photo by Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One to depart for Vietnam from Beijing Airport in Beijing, China on November 10, 2017. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Chinese model Ming Xi falls down on runway during the 2017 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at Mercedes-Benz Arena on November 20, 2017 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

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.