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.

Soviet cosmonaut and the first man to travel in space, Yury Alekseyvich Gagarin (1934–1968) arriving in London for a Russian trade fair. (Photo by Douglas Miller/Getty Images)

In this handout photo provided by Warner Brothers Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures, Tom Cruise plays Lieutenant Colonel Bill Cage, a soldier who replays his last day while trying to fight aliens, in director Doug Liman's “All You Need Is Kill”. The film is set to premiere on March 14, 2014. (Photo by David James/Warner Brothers Pictures)

A model backstagee is pictured before the Philipp Plein Spring/Summer 2016 collection during Milan Fashion Week in Italy September 23, 2015. (Photo by Alessandro Garofalo/Reuters)

This picture taken on July 8, 2015 shows 13-year-old jockey Purevsurengiin Togtokhsuren (R) watching a horse rolling in the dirt after a training session in Khui Doloon Khudag, some 50 kms west of Ulan Bator. Despite being only 13 years old, Togtokhsuren is riding for the fifth time in the national races for Mongolia's summer festival, known as Naadam, lining up against some 170 other child jockeys. (Photo by Johannes Eisele/AFP Photo)

Japan's ON-ART Corp's staff repaints the company's eight metre tall man-operated walking dinosaur robot “TRX03” at the company's studio in Tokorozawa, Japan, December 6, 2016. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Reuters)

Waura Indians wrestle during this year's “quarup”, a ritual held over several days to honour in death a person of great importance to them, in Xingu National Park, Mato Grosso State, Brazil August 25, 2013. (Photo by Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters)

A man enters an adult amusement establishment in Shinjuku's nightlife district of Kabukicho in Tokyo, August 27, 2015. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)