Dutch cyclist Fabio Jakobsen's bicycle (behind, L) flies through the air as he collides with compatriot Dylan Groenewegen (on the ground, L) during the opening stage of the Tour of Poland race in Katowice, southern Poland on August 5, 2020. The Dutch rider was fighting for his life on Wednesday after he was thrown into and over a barrier at 80km/h in a sickening conclusion to the opening stage of the Tour of Poland. (Photo by Szymon Gruchalski/Forum/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.

Nepalese army personnel pay tributes before the body of a person who died of COVID-19 before cremating the same in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, August 17, 2020. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

Madagascan sunset setting over the 98-foot-tall baobab trees of the Avenue of the Baobabs located in Menabe, Madagascar on August 2020. (Photo by Kim Paffen/MediaDrumImages)

A police officer patrols as people party on a street as pubs shut for the night due to tier 3 restrictions in Soho, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in London, Britain, December 15, 2020. (Photo by Henry Nicholls/Reuters)

Wrestlers participate during the traditional Sindhi Malakhra wrestling in Larkana, Pakistan, 30 January 2021. A Malakhra match begins with both wrestlers tying a twisted cloth around the opponent's waist. Each one then holds onto the opponent's waistcloth and tries to throw him to the ground. (Photo by Waqar Hussein/EPA/EFE)

Steam comes out of the chimneys of the coal-fired power station Neurath near the Garzweiler open-cast coal mine in Luetzerath, Germany, Monday, October 25, 2021. The climate change conference COP26 will start next Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

A porter runs behind a taxi carrying clients to Colombia's border with Venezuela in hopes of getting hired by the passengers to help carry their belongings across the border, which Venezuela partially closed seven years prior, in Cucuta, Colombia, early Monday, August 8, 2022. Colombia’s incoming foreign minister and his Venezuelan counterpart announced in late July that the border will gradually reopen after the two nations restore diplomatic ties. (Photo by Matias Delacroix/AP Photo)