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 person poses on the track during a fashion competition at the Durban July horse racing event in Durban, South Africa, July 2, 2016. (Photo by Rogan Ward/Reuters)

Indonesian Presidential Security Forces (Paspampres) personnel show their skills during an anti terror exercise in Jakarta, Indonesia on 09 April 2015. The drill is in preparation for the 60th Asian-African Conference planned to be held in Jakarta from 21 to 23 April 2015. (Photo by Bagus Indahono/EPA)

An Israeli police officer holds his weapon as he stands in front of an injured Israeli driver moments after witnesses said his car crashed into a Palestinian on a pavement during stone-throwing clashes near Lion's Gate just outside Jerusalem's Old City on May 10, 2021. (Photo by Ilan Rosenberg/Reuters)

In this January 7, 2016, photo, conservationists of Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation hold a baby orangutan rescued along with its mother during a rescue and release operation for orangutans trapped in a swath of jungle in Sungai Mangkutub, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Last year's forest fires drove orangutans closer to the river bank, where they had to live in an over-populated swath of forest as thin as 30 meters wide along the river. (Photo by Dita Alangkara/AP Photo)

This handout picture released by the Icelandic Coast Guard on May 29, 2024 shows billowing smoke and flowing lava pouring out of a new fissure, during a surveilance flight above a new volcanic eruption on the outskirts of the evacuated town of Grindavik, western Iceland. (Photo by Icelandic Coast Guard/Handout via AFP Photo)

Two chimpanzees share a piece of watermelon at Taronga Zoo on December 23, 2010 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Rick Stevens/Taronga Zoo via Getty Images)

A young boy adjusts his friend's Adolf Hitler mask during a game on a street in King's Cross, London. (Photo by William Vanderson/Getty Images). 1938