The colourful process of salt harvesting is captured at the Hon Khoi Salt Fields in Nha Trang, Vietnam in December 2022. (Photo by Hilton Chen/Solent News & Photo Agency)

Netherlands Antilles Sint Maarten – Boeing 747-400 of KLM in approach for the “Princess Juliana” airport on July 2, 2002. (Photo by LUPOO/Ullstein Bild via Getty Images)

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)

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)

Pfc. Sebastian Rodriguez, machine gunner, Weapons Platoon, Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Marine Rotational Force – Darwin, fires an M240 machine gun during a night squad-attack exercise, here, May 22, 2013. (Photo by Sgt. Sarah Fiocco/U.S. Marines)

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.

A Palestinian civil defence officer injured in Israeli attacks is given CPR on a stretcher at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza Strip, Gaza on October 16, 2023. (Photo by Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images)