Snow blows off the Svalbard Global Seed Vault before being inaugurated at sunrise, Tuesday, February 26, 2008. (Photo by John McConnico/AP Photo)

Unidentified relatives and friends of passengers who were flying in an EgyptAir plane that vanished from radar en route from Paris to Cairo react as they wait outside the Egyptair in-flight service building where relatives are being held at Cairo International Airport, Egypt May 19, 2016. (Photo by Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)

People visit the artwork titled Seven Magic Mountains by artist Ugo Rondinone, Wednesday, May 11, 2016, near Jean, Nev. The artwork was recently completed in the desert south of Las Vegas. (Photo by John Locher/AP Photo)

Relatives perform the last rites before the cremation of their loved one who died due to the Covid-19 coronavirus at a cremation ground in Allahabad on May 4, 2021. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/AFP Photo)

A specialist from a local veterinary service wears a protective suit as sprays disinfectant near Russian tanks displayed at area near Proryv (The Breakthrough) museum dedicated to the breakthrough of the Siege of Leningrad during World WarII near Kirovsk, about 30 kilometres (19 miles) east of St.Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, April 2, 2020. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

A girl carries her sibling as she walks through stranded flood water, following rains and floods during the monsoon season in Nowshera, Pakistan on September 4, 2022. (Photo by Fayaz Aziz/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.

In this June 17, 2014 photo, a North Korean man takes shelter in the rain next to long propaganda billboards in the town of Samjiyon in North Korea's Ryanggang province. The Associated Press was granted to embark on a weeklong road trip across North Korea to the country’s spiritual summit Mount Paektu. The trip was on North Korea's terms. An AP reporter and photographer couldn't interview ordinary people or wander off course, and government “minders” accompanied them the entire way. (Photo by David Guttenfelder/AP Photo)