A man enters an adult amusement establishment in Shinjuku's nightlife district of Kabukicho in Tokyo, August 27, 2015. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

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.

“Fly cap for a vine snake”. A fly lands on the head of a vine snake in the Choco of Colombia. (Photo and caption by Robin Moore/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

This unidentified teenager found Elvis Presley “too much” when he appeared at the Philadelphia Arena in Philadelphia, Pa., on April 6, 1957. (Photo by Bill Ingraham/AP Photo)

Sphynx cats are seen in Ankara, Turkiye on July 29, 2023. World Cat Day is celebrated on August 8th every year since 2002. (Photo by Omer Taha Cetin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A local resident performs traditional horse racing during a celebration marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, in northwest China's Qinghai Province, August 4, 2021. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

In this Monday, June 29, 2020 a man wearing a face mask to protect against coronavirus, walks past a hair product billboard on the street in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa. Africa now has more than a half-million confirmed coronavirus cases as the continent-wide total is now over 508,000 after South Africa recorded another day of more than 10,000 confirmed cases as a new global hot spot. (Photo by Themba Hadebe/AP Photo/File)

A worker wearing a protective face mask, cleans up the road in front of a mural in Jakarta, Indonesia, 24 July 2020. Indonesian government has assigned a new team to rebuild the national economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. The country has started to ease COVID-19 lock-down restrictions in an effort to restart the economies and help people in their daily routines after the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Mast Irham/EPA/EFE)