A model poses in front of phone boxes for a photographer in London, United Kingdom on Friday, October 1, 2021. (Photo by Frank Augstein/AP Photo)

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 wear traditional Chinese outfits as they walk in Chinatown in Bangkok on February 11, 2021, ahead of the start of the Lunar New Year, which ushers in the Year of the Ox on February 12. (Photo by Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP Photo)

An overview of “Closer”, an art projection by conceptual artist and photographer Wim Tellier, at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels on June 15, 2021. Tellier, a Belgian photographer and artist, is known for his installation projects using giant-size photographs. (Photo by James Arthur Gekiere/Belga/AFP Photo)

A woman wearing a protective mask walks outside a church in Mandaluyong, east of Manila, Philippines on Sunday, February 2, 2020. The Philippines on Sunday reported the first death of a new virus outside of China, where authorities delayed the opening of schools in the worst-hit province and tightened quarantine measures in another that allow only one family member to venture out to buy supplies. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)

Competitors make their way up Heartbreak Hill during the 2022 City to Surf on August 14, 2022 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

A blue-tailed bee-eater chases down its prey along the banks of the Kaveri River on the outskirts of the city of Mysore, India in the last decade of June 2025. (Photo by Nitin Jain/Solent News)

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.