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 British soldier from 3 Commando Brigade looks through the sight of his sniper rifle at Camp Gibraltar February 24, 2003 near Kuwait City, Kuwait. (Photo by Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

A house that was slammed off its foundation by Hurricane Isabel sits precariously on the beach one month after it hit Rodanthe, North Carolina October 18, 2003. (Photo by Rick Wilking/Reuters)

A man walks past an advertisement sign promoting a bank in Seoul in this September 3, 2009 file photo. South Korea is expected to release GDP dara this week. (Photo by Lee Jae-Won/Reuters)

King George V (1865–1936), king of Great Britain since 1910, with his queen-consort Queen Mary (1867–1953), at Collier Hospital on a visit to Dublin. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

People look at a man, who residents said was killed by al Qaeda militants, hanging on a bridge in Yemen's southeastern city of Mukalla June 17, 2015. Al Qaeda militants in Yemen killed two alleged Saudi spies, residents said, accusing them of planting tracking devices which enabled the assassination of the group's leader in a suspected U.S. drone strike. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman and European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst (not shown) works outside the space station's Quest airlock in the first of three spacewalks for the Expedition 41 crew aboard the International Space Station in this NASA image released October 8, 2014. (Photo by Reuters/NASA)

A woman made up as a skull participates in Day of the Dead festivities in Mexico City, Thursday, October 27, 2016. The holiday honors the dead as friends and families gather in cemeteries to decorate their loved ones' graves and hold vigil through the night on Nov. 1 and 2. (Photo by Marco Ugarte/AP Photo)