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.

Transgender Kendra Ferrari, 21, performs during Miss Night Queen beauty contest in Guatemala City, Friday, June 15, 2012. Ferrari won the pageant and will represent the transgender community for one year. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) (R) stands in front of Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) as they arrive for U.S. President George W. Bush's annual State of the Union speech to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington in this January 23, 2007 file photo. Hillary Clinton announced her second run for the presidency on April 12, 2015 starting her campaign as the Democrats' best hope of fending off a crowded field of lesser-known Republican rivals and retaining the White House. (Photo by Larry Downing/Reuters)

This photo taken late on February 21, 2021 in Milo, near Catania, Sicily, and obtained on February 22, 2021 from Italian news agency Ansa, shows lava flowing along the sides of the southern crater of the Etna volcano as a new eruptive episode of tall lava fountains, known as paroxysm, occurred. (Photo by ANSA/Handout via AFP Photo)

People dancing to buskers performances in Sai Yeung Choi Street South in Mongkok district, Hong Kong, China, 28 July 2018. After 18 years of unregulated street performances, the street performers were forced to give up the space to vehicular traffic again. (Photo by Jerome Favre/EPA/EFE)

English singer-songwriter, dancer, model and actress Sarah Harding attends the launch of Walkers Bring It Back Campaign at Vinopolis on September 3, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Joseph Okpako/WireImage)

In this June 29, 2016 file photo, boats docked at Central Marine in Stuart, Fla., are surrounded by blue green algae. The 153-mile-long Indian River Lagoon has been plagued by harmful algae blooms. Water quality testing data analyzed by the AP showed the average phosphorous level – a byproduct of fertilizers and human waste that algae thrive on, rose nearly 75 percent between 2000 and 2016. (Photo by Greg Lovett/The Palm Beach Post via AP Photo)

U.S Army combat camera photographer Spc. Hilda Clayton took this photo July 2, 2013 that was released by the U.S. Army, that shows an Afghan soldier engulfed in flame as a mortar tube explodes during an Afghan National Army live-fire training exercise in Laghman Province, Afghanistan. The accident killed Clayton and four Afghan National Army soldiers. (Photo by Spc. Hilda Clayton/U.S. Army via AP Photo)