Saraa Mutawkil (R), 18, practises boxing at Al Rabie club in Omdurman May 10, 2016. (Photo by Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters)

Opossums on their mothers back at a game reserve in Central Minnesota, USA, on September 2, 2013. (Photo by Caters News Agency)

Young gymnasts practice pull-up on a bar at a gymnasium of a sports school in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province April 11, 2015. (Photo by William Hong/Reuters)

A bird vendor holds a cage with a bird on a sideroad after a heavy snowfall in Kabul on January 5, 2022. (Photo by Mohd Rasfan/AFP Photo)

The mother of a protester mourns at a hospital after her son was killed was killed during clashes on March 03, 2021 in Yangon, Myanmar. Medics and health workers have found themselves on the front lines and under intense pressure, as they try to help anti-coup protesters as resistance continues to erupt across the country, to be met with deadly force by the military junta. (Photo by Stringer/Getty Images)

A girl performs martial arts during a function to mark International Women's Day at a school in Hyderabad, India, on March 7, 2014. (Photo by Mahesh Kumar A./Associated Press)

A country music fan cools off in the wind on the second day of the Stagecoach country music festival in Indio, California April 26, 2014. (Photo by Mike Blake/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.