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.

Children play in their grandmother's garden in a suburb of Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, July 21, 2022. Hungary has experienced several heat waves since mid June with day-time temperatures rising to 40 degrees Celsius and remaining at tropical levels through the night. In fact, the country recently shattered record for its hottest night ever when temperature of 25.4 C was measured in Budapest on July 26. (Photo by Anna Szilagyi/AP Photo)

People in full medieval armor take part in a combat at Central Park in New York, U.S., August 14, 2021. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

Participants of the 79th edition of the annual Christmas swimming “Coupe de Noel” jump into the Lake Geneva, in Geneva, Switzerland, Sunday, December 17, 2017. More than 2000 men and women swam the 120 meters at the traditional Christmas swimming in Geneva where the water temperature was 6 degrees. (Photo by Martial Trezzini/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Residents with faces covered in ash ride on a motorcycle as Mount Sinabung volcano erupts, in Sukandebi village in Karo Regency, Indonesia's North Sumatra province, Indonesia June 13, 2015, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. (Photo by Rony Muharrman/Reuters/Antara Foto)

U.S. Army soldiers carry an injured soldier who was shot in the leg, through a poppy field on April 24, 2011 in the Arghandab River Valley, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. The injured was evacuated to a waiting Blackhawk UH-60A helicopter by Task Force Thunder Brigade, Charlie company 1st of the 52nd Aviation regiment from Fairbanks, Alaska. It is feared that as weather improves with the approaching summer that the casualty toll will rise. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

Sculptured figures titled “Huck and Jim” is on display at a press preview at The Met Fifth Avenue in New York City on Monday, January 24, 2022. (Photo by John Angelillo/UPI/Alamy Live News)

A child prays next to a woman during Eid al-Fitr prayers in Bucharest, Romania, Monday, May 2, 2022. Members of the Romanian Muslim community gathered for Eid al-Fitr prayers, marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at the Dinamo stadium in the Romanian capital, in the largest Muslim public gathering of the year in Romania. (Photo by Andreea Alexandru/AP Photo)