A rickshaw driver looks out the windshield as he drives onto the highway in Mardan, Pakistan January 30, 2017. (Photo by Fayaz Aziz/Reuters)

Drivers push cars to gas station during “oil crisis”, Roslindale, Boston, Massachusetts, 1973. (Photo by Spencer Grant/Getty Images)

A squirrel begs for food from a scooter driver in a park in Moscow on September 2, 2025. (Photo by Alexander Nemenov/AFP Photo)

David Reutimann, driver of the #00 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota, Brian Vickers, driver of the #83 Red Bull Toyota, and Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, collide after an incident in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Jeff Byrd 500 Presented By Food City at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 20, 2011 in Bristol, Tennessee.

Kamaz Russian driver Eduard Nikolaev, co- driver Evgeny Yakovlev and mechanic Vladimir Rybakov compete during the 2018 Dakar Rally' s Stage 13 between San Juan and Cordoba in Argentina, on January 19, 2018. (Photo by Franck Fife/AFP Photo)

Team Bahrain Raid Xtreme's French driver Sebastien Loeb and his Belgian co-driver Fabian Lurquin steer their car, during stage 9 of the Dakar rally 2024, between Hail and Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia, on January 16, 2024. (Photo by Patrick Hertzog/AFP Photo)

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.

Ranger trainees and trainee dogs simulate an ambush against rhino poachers at the Paramount Group Anti-Poaching training and K9 (canine) academy on November 26, 2014 in Magaliesberg, South Africa. One of the largest of its kind in Africa, the Academy will address the ever increasing need for training of Conservation Officers in anti poaching activities, wildlife contraband detection, specialist K9 solutions and Ranger K9 handler training – all of which have proven success rates in combatting and apprehending poachers and their activities. (Photo by Gianluigi Guercia/AFP Photo)