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.

People dance Tuesday, April 28, 2015, in Baltimore. Maryland's governor vowed there would be no repeat of the looting, arson and vandalism that erupted Monday in some of the city's poorest neighborhoods. (Photo by Matt Rourke/AP Photo)

“The Falklands War, also known as the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was a 1982 limited war between Argentina and the United Kingdom. The conflict resulted from the long-standing dispute over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, which lie in the South Atlantic east of Argentina”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Kenneth “Rocky” Hudson, a Petty Officer from Gosport aboard HMS Hermes, the flagship of the Royal Navy, heading for the Falkland Islands. The troops are waging a Mexican moustache growing contest and Kenneth is wearing 30mm cannon shells slung around his body and sporting a fat cigar. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). 18th April 1982

A dead whale is seen on the shore of the Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil November 15, 2017. A biologist, Rafael Carvalho, said on Wednesday the whale appeared to have been dead for a few days. Authorities were urging beachgoers who had flocked to Ipanema on a national holiday to stay away from the animal. However, many were spotted near the carcass with some people playing in the water nearby. The whale is approximately 39 feet (12 metres) long and weighs about 25 tonnes. (Photo by Pilar Olivares/Reuters)

In this Friday, January 7, 2011 photo, people carry baskets of coal scavenged illegally at an open-cast mine in the village of Bokapahari in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand where a community of coal scavengers live and work. The world's biggest coal users – China, the United States and India – have boosted coal mining in 2017, in an abrupt departure from last year's record global decline for the heavily polluting fuel and a setback to efforts to rein in climate change emissions. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/AP Photo)

Spanish soldiers of the 7th Airborne Light Infantry Brigade “Galicia” fire a howitzer Light Gun L118 during maneuvers with other units in preparation to NATO's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) in Zaragoza, Spain, April 19, 2016. (Photo by Javier Cebollada/EPA)

This time exposure photo provided by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department shows a series of lightning strikes over Santa Barbara, Calif., seen from Stearns Wharf in the city's harbor, Tuesday evening, March 5, 2019. A storm soaking California on Wednesday could trigger mudslides in wildfire burn areas where thousands of residents are under evacuation orders, authorities warned. (Photo by Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP Photo)

Syrian refugees sit behind barbed wire as they wait to cross into Macedonia at the Greek-Macedonian border, near the village of Idomeni, August 21, 2015. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)