This photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on June 7, 2012 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) surrounded by members of the Korean Children's Union (KCU) organizations during a joint national meeting to celebrate the 66th anniversary of the KCU organizations at Kim Il-Sung Stadium in Pyongyang on June 6, 2012. (Photo by AFP Photo/KCNA via KNS)

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.

Iranian Kurdish female members of the Freedom Party of Kurdistan (PAK) hold a position on November 6, 2016 in an area near the town of Bashiqa, some 25 kilometres north east of Mosul, during an operation against Islamic State (IS) group jihadists to retake the main hub city. (Photo by Safin Hamed/AFP Photo)

A participant with a painted face takes part in Delhi Queer Pride March, an event promoting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights, in New Delhi, India on January 8, 2023. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)

Belgian singer Angèle performs onstage at the 2023 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 14, 2023 in Indio, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Coachella)

Bangladeshi people climb into the roof of an overcrowded train as they travel to celebrate Eid with family in their villages, at the Kamlapur Railway Station in Dhaka, Bangladesh, 03 June 2019. Muslims around the world are preparing to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the three-day festival marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr is one of the two major holidays in Islam. (Photo by Monirul Alam/EPA/EFE)

A man and a woman both wounded by what locals say was recent shelling by Ukrainian forces, react as they sit in an ambulance in Donetsk August 23, 2014. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

A boy runs next to a portrait of Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, placed in celebration of the King's 88th birthday, in Bangkok, Thailand, December 5, 2015. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)