A Buddhist monk salvages a statue of a Buddhist deity from a monastery around the famous Swayambhunath stupa after it was damaged by Saturday's earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, April 30, 2015. In mere seconds, Saturday's earthquake devastated a swathe of Nepal. Three of the seven World Heritage sites in the Kathmandu Valley have been severely damaged, including Durbar Square with pagodas and temples dating from the 15th to 18th centuries, according to UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

Revelers pose before the start of the Los Angeles Pride parade on June 9, 2019 in West Hollywood, California. The 49th annual parade, celebrating LGBTQ identity, drew thousands to the streets of West Hollywood. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

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.

Aeroflot employees with a puppy at the canine service of Aeroflot at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow Region, Russia on October 2, 2020, that has started to train service dogs to detect COVID-19 in people. (Photo by Vladimir Gerdo/TASS)

An Iraqi youth shows-off his balancing skills as he performs stunts on a motorbike, on the bank of the Shatt Al-Arab river at sunset, in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, on March 17, 2021. (Photo by Hussein Faleh/AFP Photo)

The model Gigi Hadid receives attention in Soho, New York, USA on June 27, 2017. (Photo by Broadimage/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Fluffy toy panda bears as part of the art installation “Panda mie” by Italian restaurant owner Giuseppe “Pino” Fichera sit over beers at his restaurant “Pino's” to raise awareness of the COVID-19 lockdown's business impact on gastronomy in Frankfurt, Germany, November 24, 2020. (Photo by Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)

A sanitation worker fumigates using sodium hypochlorite in an archive room to fight the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Milimani commercial courts in Nairobi, Kenya, July 17, 2020. (Photo by Baz Ratner/Reuters)