Members of the Palestinian Hamas security forces show their skills as they take part in a graduation ceremony in Gaza City on January 22, 2017. (Photo by Mahmud Hams/AFP Photo)

A girl rests while ferrying water as Palestinians leave Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip with their belongings, heading towards Gaza City following Israeli evacuation orders on March 19, 2025. The Israeli military dropped leaflets warning residents of what it called “combat areas” in the north and south of the besieged Palestinian territory, after Israel resumed air strikes following a ceasefire breakdown. (Photo by Bashar Taleb/AFP Photo)

An American soldier walks ahead of an MKIV (Mark IV) British-made tank, circa 1918. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Iraqi forces launch a rocket in Mosul's eastern Al-Intisar neighbourhood on December 30, 2016, during an ongoing military operation against Islamic State (IS) group jihadists. Iraqi forces advanced on December 29 after declaring a new phase in their offensive on eastern Mosul, stepping up efforts to reclaim the Islamic State group's last major stronghold in the country. (Photo by Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP Photo)

The first legal wedding ceremony in history was performed in a hot tub when Leslie Davis, 23, and Richard Bustardo, 29, got married during the Backyard Living Show in Los Angeles, March 26, 1975. The ceremony was held in a five-foot hot tub, with the bride wearing a bikini and the groom attired in swimming trunks and top hat. In background is best man Arnold Holland and bridesmaid Bonnie Heckenbach, who joined the couple in the same hot tub. Officiating is Betty Jane Shaw, left. (Photo by Harold Filan/AP Photo)

Bicycle rickshaw drivers chat as they wait for customers near the Drum Tower in a traditional neighbourhood on September 30, 2021 in Beijing, China. China will mark National Day and the Golden Week holiday from October 1st. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/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.

An Iraqi soldier stands guard as a pipeline burns in the background after an explosion 30 kilometers (20 miles) northeast of Tikrit, Iraq, Monday, February 11, 2008. (Photo by Bassem Daham/AP Photo)