Ukrainian servicemen are seen training with a BMP-2 in Donetsk Region, Ukraine on February 10, 2022. (Photo by Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu Agency via 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.

Children, wearing traditional Bavarian folk costumes specific to their region, prepare for the competition in the “Schuhplattler” style of Bavarian folk dancing for the Bavarian Lion Award at the Huosigau Heimat and Folklore Society on May 28, 2011 in Weilheim, Germany. (Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images)

The last American military convoy to depart Iraq from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division crosses over the border into Kuwait on December 18, 2011 in Khabari Al Awazeem, Kuwait. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Libyan forces allied with the U.N.-backed government fire a shell at Islamic State fighters' positions in Sirte, Libya August 15, 2016. (Photo by Ismail Zitouny/Reuters)

Palestinians evacuate wounded people following an Israeli airstrike in Bureij refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Thursday, November 2, 2023. (Photo by Mohammed Dahman/AP Photo)

A climate change activist plays a violin in Times Square as Manhattan is shrouded in haze and smoke which drifted south from wildfires in Canada, in New York City, New York, U.S., June 7, 2023. (Photo by Maye-E Wong/Reuters)

Members of the media touch a moving model of a Tyrannosaurus, which uses a dinosaur-type human-operated mechanical suit called “Dino-Techne” by Japanese firm On-Art, during a media preview of the Dinoa Live Exhibition / Amazing Dinosaur Art Exhibition in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on December 10, 2020. (Photo by Philip Fong/AFP Photo)