People who fled the violence from Islamic State-controlled northern Syrian town of al-Bab arrive in the rebel-held outskirts of the town, Syria February 3, 2017. (Photo by Khalil Ashawi/Reuters)

“The 2008 Sichuan earthquake or the Great Sichuan Earthquake was a deadly earthquake that measured at 8.0 Ms and 7.9 Mw occurred at 14:28:01 CST (06:28 UTC) on Monday, May 12, 2008 in Sichuan province of China, killing an estimated 68,000 people”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A woman cries as she cannot find her 4-year-old daughter and husband on the top of the ruins of a destroyed school in earthquake-hit Beichuan county, Sichuan province, May 17, 2008. (Photo by Jason Lee/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.

Old Heidelberg, Dog with Pipe, 1905. (Photo by Detroit Publishing Company)

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)

A damaged wooden garden house is seen amid a field of wheat following floods caused by heavy rainfalls, in Bad Bodendorf, Germany, July 18, 2021. (Photo by Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters)

This photograph taken on June 8, 2021 shows a street vendor walking past narrow residential houses, known as “nha ong” in Vietnamese or “tube houses”, in an urban area of Hanoi. (Photo by Manan Vatsyayana/AFP Photo)

An elephant enjoys its back being scrubbed by the keeper on March 1, 1950. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)