Seals on Wednesday, November 12, 2025 on the Farne Islands during the annual census of pup numbers at one of England's largest grey seal colonies. The islands, off the Northumberland coast, is an important haven for thousands of seabirds and hundreds of adult seals, and are looked after by the National Trust. (Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)

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.

People sit on the top of a truck heavily piled with corn-stalks plies as they head for Mogadishu from Afgooye on October 19, 2016. At least four police officers were killed on October 18 when a suicide bomb attacker rammed an explosives-packed car into a police station before fighters from the Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab group subsequently stormed the area killing at least 10 people, including soldiers and civilians. (Photo by Mohamed Abdiwahab/AFP Photo)

Female pilot Anna climbs out the cockpit of Japanese electronics company Suidobashi Heavy Industry's newly unveiled robot “Kuratas” at the Wonder Festival in Chiba, suburban Tokyo on July 29, 2012. The “Kuratas” robot, which will go on sale with a price tag of one million USD, measures four meters in height, weighs four tons and has four wheeled legs that can either be controlled remotely through the 3G network or by a human seated within the cockpit. (Photo by Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP Photo)

A Chinese tourist wears protective gloves as she holds a baby Siberian tiger as they pose for pictures at the Heilongjiang Siberian Tiger Park on August 16, 2017 in Harbin, northern China. The center is one of two Siberian tiger parks in the Chinese province of Heilongjiang, about 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the border with Russia. It is considered the world's largest for breeding the Siberian, or Amur, tiger which is listed as endangered by the World Wildlife Federation. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Kendall Jenner (L) and Hailey Baldwin attend Harper's BAZAAR Celebration of “ICONS By Carine Roitfeld” at The Plaza Hotel presented by Infor, Laura Mercier, Stella Artois, FUJIFILM and SWAROVSKI on September 8, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for Harper's BAZAAR)

Rohingya refugee sisters Nur Kaida (R) and Ruhana hug each other at their shelter at the Palongkhali refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh December 21, 2017. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)

Dressed up as Punxsutawney Phil, Marty Nagy, of Hallandale Beach, Fla., gives thumbs up to passers by before the start of the 12th annual Groundhog Day on Hollywood Beach, Tuesday, February 2, 2016, in Hollywood, Fla. The event, which featured breakfast and an ocean plunge, benefited the Hollywood Beach Lifeguard Competition Team. (Photo by Wilfredo Lee/AP Photo)