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.

Young Haitian migrants hang out in the Batey La Lima community, an impoverished community surrounded by a massive sugarcane plantation in the coastal city of La Romana, Dominican Republic, Wednesday, November 17, 2021. As the rest of the world closes its doors to Haitian migrants, the country that shares an island with Haiti also is cracking down in a way that human rights activists say hasn’t been seen in decades. (Photo by Matias Delacroix/AP Photo)

In this July 5, 2016 photo, a tamed elephant rests in a pool of water by a road in Baduraliya, a village outside Colombo, Sri Lanka. Even as the country cracks down on illegal ownership, the enduring demand for elephants has the government planning to set up its own pool of captive animals to be hired out to temples for ceremonies and maintained with budget funds. (Photo by Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo)

“Residents in a small town littered with giant potholes may be ready to “crack” the art world – after turning their massively damaged roads into hilarious masterpieces. Fun-natured drivers from Scranton, Pennsylvania have been challenged by an arts group to turn the ugly craters in their neighborhood into pothole art”. – Caters News. Photo: Cereal bowl pothole. (Photo by Caters News)

In this Thursday, November 1, 2018, photo, a girl uses a hammer to crack open shells for edible seeds to sell as snacks in Yangon, Myanmar. A United Nations report says some 486 million people are malnourished in Asia and the Pacific, and progress in alleviating hunger is stalling. (Photo by Thein Zaw/AP Photo)

Pontoons, which were previously used as a floating jetty, are seen on the cracked ground of the Atibainha dam, part of the Cantareira reservoir, during a drought in Nazare Paulista, Sao Paulo state February 12, 2015. Brazil's worst drought in 80 years has left the Cantareira system, that provides greater Sao Paulo with most of its water, with the lowest water level on record. Brazil's economy is already expected to post zero growth this year. Worse yet, since Brazil depends on hydroelectric dams for about three quarters of its electricity, power shortages are also possible due to the drought, federal officials have said. (Photo by Paulo Whitaker/Reuters)

An Israeli activist dressed as a clown runs around security forces as they arrest a protester near a police checkpoint at the entrance of the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in east Jerusalem, on June 25, 2021. Tensions between Israel and Palestinians that lead to 11 days of military violence last month, initially flared in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood where Israeli police cracked down on people protesting the planned expulsion of Palestinian families from their homes so Jewish settlers could move in. (Photo by Ahmad Gharabli/AFP Photo)

“Der Jen (Dezhen; 德珍繪館) has achieved fame in her homeland and that fame is now spreading to other parts of the world as more and more people become familiar with her beautiful paintings. This Taiwanese artist depicts these beautiful ladies in classic, traditional dress that would have been worn by members of the royal court or an empress herself. Traditional hair styles and jewelry depicted in her pieces are also considered authentic. Der Jens art can be found in Chinese advertising, childrens magazines, romance novels, tarot cards, and even on public transit tickets. Its also making its way to our pcs as desktop wallpaper”.

Photo: Der Jen (Dezhen; 德珍繪館) – “The beauty of Brocade” (please click to enlarge).