A woman attempts to get past a police blockade during a protest on Women's Day, in Manila, Philippines on March 8, 2023. (Photo by Lisa Marie David/Reuters)

Agustina, 41, a trans woman poses before a Trans Super Heroes fashion show at a traditional market in Jakarta, Indonesia on December 17, 2023. (Photo by Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/Reuters)

People look on at the side of a road as Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT's British driver Elfyn Evans steers his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid with British co-driver Scott Martin while arriving to Naivasha ahead of the second day of the World Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally Kenya in Naivasha, on March 28, 2024. (Photo by Luis Tato/AFP Photo)

Revelers stained with colored powder cheer during the Holi festival celebrations in Chennai, India, 08 March 2023. Holi, also known as the “Festival Of Colors” is an ancient Indian Hindu festival symbolizing the victory of good over evil and marking the arrival of spring. It is celebrated with joyful gatherings during which revelers cover each other in colored powders. (Photo by Idrees Mohammed/EPA/EFE)

A ballerina from Kyiv City ballet prepares in the wings on stage during the opening night gala performance at The Theatre Royal in Bath, Britain on April 16, 2023. (Photo by Lee Smith/Reuters)

People take part in a water gun battle as part of the annual Songkran festival, also known as water festival, the traditional Thai New Year celebrations, at the tourist spot of Khao San Road in Bangkok, Thailand, 13 April 2023. Thailand celebrates its first water-splashing Songkran festival following a three-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Songkran is celebrated with splashing water and putting powder on each other's faces as a symbolic sign of cleansing and washing away the sins from the old year. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA)

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.

“Sokolica”. Sokolica, Poland. (Photo and caption by Marcin Kęsek/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.