Lewis McKay, two, from East Kilbride, tries out the drums at the 2024 World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow. on August 16, 2024 Some 204 bands, representing 13 nations and including 9,000 musicians, are competing over two days. (Photo by Wattie Cheung/The Times)

Female North Korean soldiers parade to mark the 60th anniversary of the signing of a truce in the 1950-1953 Korean War at Kim Il-sung Square, in Pyongyang. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

“Fly cap for a vine snake”. A fly lands on the head of a vine snake in the Choco of Colombia. (Photo and caption by Robin Moore/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

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.

A fisherman boats in Chao Lake where thick cyanobacteria gather on the surface on August 5, 2015 in Chaohu, Anhui Province of China. As high temperature came in summar, part of water in Anhui Province's Chao Lake breeds large tracts of cyanobacteria which not only brought pollution to sense of smell, but also affected people's life. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images)

This unidentified teenager found Elvis Presley “too much” when he appeared at the Philadelphia Arena in Philadelphia, Pa., on April 6, 1957. (Photo by Bill Ingraham/AP Photo)

A woman carries earthen pots to fill them with drinking water on a hot summer day, on the outskirts of Ajmer, Rajasthan, India April 25, 2017. (Photo by Himanshu Sharma/Reuters)

Sphynx cats are seen in Ankara, Turkiye on July 29, 2023. World Cat Day is celebrated on August 8th every year since 2002. (Photo by Omer Taha Cetin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)