A thrill-seeking storm chaser captured the precise moment these giant lightning bolts lit up dark skies in a series of incredible storms. (Photo by Craig Eccles/Solent News & Photo Agency)

This photo taken on September 1, 2023 shows a one-day-old female Sumatran elephant by her 41-year-old mother elephant named Lisa at the Elephant Flying Squad camp in the Tesso Nilo National Park in Pelalawan, Sumatra. (Photo by Wahyudi/AFP Photo)

A red squirrel leaps over a gray squirrel after the larger squirrel became annoyed with its territory being encroached upon, Saturday, May 28, 2022, in Freeport, Maine. (Photo by Robert F. Bukaty/AP 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.

The Spanking. (Photo by Vika Valter/Getty Images)

The Sunda lemur uses a special membrane to “fly” between trees while on the lookout for food in Java, Indonesia in the last decade of June 2024. (Photo by Dzulfikri/Solent News)

Fast food got a whole new meaning in Hokkaido, Japan, where a vole was captured fleeing from a fox in the first decade of January 2025. (Photo by Hiroki Inoue/Solent News)

Victor Peralta from Uruguay gestures during the fourth International Tattoo Convention in Quito, September 25, 2016. (Photo by Kevin Granja/Reuters)