Jellyfish with a juvenile imperial blackfish (Schedophilus ovalis) in Castellammare di Stabia, Naples, Italy, winter 2023. (Photo by Marco Gargiulo/Media Drum Images)

Entertainers perform during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on August 24, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Lisi Niesner/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.

Girls take part in the traditional seasonal Christmas run along the streets of Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, December 17, 2017. The festive run attracts many hundreds of people to the capital dressed as Santa Clause to take part in the sporting event. (Photo by Mindaugas Kulbis/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)

FC Barcelona's fans celebrate winning the Spanish LaLiga soccer championship at Canaletas Square in Barcelona, Spain, 15 May 2025, after the Spanish LaLiga soccer match between RCD Espanyol and FC Barcelona at the RCDE Stadium in Cornella de Llobregat. (Photo by Quique Garcia/EPA/EFE)

A general view of the Burj Khalifa on February 23, 2012 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. At 829.84 m (2723 ft) tall the Burj Khalifa is currently the tallest building in the world. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)