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 model presents a creation during the 2018 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York City, New York, U.S., November 8, 2018. (Photo by Mike Segar/Reuters)

Model Ming Xi falls as she presents a creation during the 2017 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in Shanghai, China, November 20, 2017. (Photo by David Fisher/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Victoria's Secret Angels Candice Swanepoel and Erin Heatherton attend Victoria's Secret Very s*xy Tour stop in New York at the Victoria's Secret at Herald Square on March 13, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Victoria's Secret)

Adele Clark, aged 8, looks at an animatronic Gallimimus dinosaur at the Natural History Museum on April 20, 2011 in London, England. The Age of the Dinosaur is a summer exhibition combining animatronic models, fossils and CGI film footage. (Photo by Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images)

A boy poses with a butterfly on his face during a photocall to promote the “Sensational Butterflies” exhibition at the Natural History Museum in central London, on March 25, 2013. With around 400 live tropical butterflies and moths living in the temporary facility, visitors will get the chance to see them flying freely as well as looking for emerging butterflies at the hatchery window. Running from March 29 to September 15, 2013, the exhibition is housed in a structure in the museum grounds. (Photo by Leon Neal/AFP Photo)

Since Rodrigo Duterte became president last year, his brutal campaign against drugs has claimed thousands of lives. Human rights groups say he is guilty of crimes against humanity, yet that is scant comfort to those mourning loved ones. Here: Constantino de Juan’s seven children sit on a sofa that still bears the bullet hole from their father’s shooting. Juan was preparing a spaghetti dinner on his daughter’s birthday when he was killed. (Photo by James Whitlow Delano/Funded by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting/The Guardian)