Activists participate in the Walk of Lesbian and Bisexual Women in Paulista Avenue, SP. The act was organized by the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) in São Paulo, Brazil, on June 2, 2018. (Photo by Cris Faga/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Kinga Drozdz of Team Poland reacts against Xufeng Zou of Team China during the Women's Sabre Category A quarterfinals on day six of the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games at Grand Palais on September 03, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Revelers dance and shout as they listen to music, in front of the main stage, during the 21st Woodstock Festival in Kostrzyn-upon-Odra, Poland July 31, 2015. An estimated 200,000 people attended the ongoing festival, a brainchild of Polish journalist and social campaigner Jerzy Owsiak, on Friday. Owsiak initiated the event to say thank you to those who donated money to his GOCC charity organisation that delivers medical care for children. (Photo by Kacper Pempel/Reuters)

In this Feb. 17, 2017 photo, surfers walk to La Pampilla beach in Lima, Peru. Night surfing apparently came about in Lima because of a dispute with the capital municipality that in 2015 increased the width of a road that runs along the coast. The surfers protested the construction for months by camping on the asphalted beach area, but in the end the municipality prevailed, with support from the police. At the end of 2016, perhaps to win over the surfers, Lima's mayor set up beach lights that allows for night surfing. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

Children react after what activists said was shelling by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad near the Syrian Arab Red Crescent center in the Douma neighborhood of Damascus May 6, 2015. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)

Benfica's Portuguese forward Goncalo Ramos (R) vies with Portimonense's Japonese goalkeeper Kosuke Nakamura (L) during the Portuguese League football match between SL Benfica and Portimonense SC at Luz stadium in Lisbon on January 6, 2023. (Photo by Patrícia de Melo Moreira/AFP Photo)

Young girls attend a training session in MGFSO Olympic reserve school in Moscow on May 30, 2016. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP Photo)

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.