A racehorse is hoisted up before its operation at Veliefendi equine hospital in Istanbul March 3, 2015. A state-of-the-art hospital for hundreds of horses run by the Jockey Club of Turkey at Istanbul's Veliefendi racecourse is the country's oldest and biggest. Grooms and trainers at the equine clinic work with vets and nurses while owners hope their prize runners, often worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, will recover quickly and then run faster still. (Photo by Murad Sezer/Reuters)

A humanoid robot named Kansei, meaning “sensibility” in Japanese, makes a facial expression depicting “happiness”, next to the word “Love” during a demonstration at a laboratory of Meiji University's Robot and Science Institute in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo in this June 4, 2007 file photo. Three-fourths of robot installations over the next decade are expected to be concentrated in four areas: transportation equipment, including the automotive sector; computer and electronic products; electrical equipment and machinery. Labor costs have climbed in countries such as China that have been popular for outsourcing production, while technological advances for robots allow them to be more flexible and perform more tasks. (Photo by Yuriko Nakao/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.

NATO and U.S. flags flutter as U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter flies over the military air base in Siauliai, Lithuania, April 27, 2016. (Photo by Ints Kalnins/Reuters)

A member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) pose for a picture at a camp in the Colombian mountains on February 2005. (Photo by Frank Piasecki Poulsen)

A navy diver storms into the gallery during a military display at Singapore's 52nd National Day celebrations at Marina Bay in Singapore August 9, 2017. (Photo by Edgar Su/Reuters)

In this August 21, 2017 photo released by the U.S. Defense Department, Qatari special operations personnel conduct a military free-fall Friendship Jump over Qatar. The U.S. military has halted some exercises with its Gulf Arab allies over the ongoing diplomatic crisis targeting Qatar, trying to use its influence to end the monthslong dispute, authorities told The Associated Press on Friday, October 6, 2017. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Trevor T. McBride/ U.S. Air Force via AP Photo)

Beyonce and Jay-Z leave Rihanna's 3rd Annual Diamond Ball at Cipriani Wall Street on September 14, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by James Devaney/GC Images)