A tourist cools off in front of a misting fan near a venue of the Hozuki-Ichi (Japanese lantern plant fair), at Sensoji temple, in Tokyo, Japan, on July 10, 2025. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Kids in fancy dress eat for free at Asda Cafés in Leeds, UK on Halloween on 31st October, 2025 – a real treat for families this spooky season. (Photo by Doug Jackson/PinPep)

Demonstrators run inside of subway after clashing with riot police during a protest to denounce the housing crisis and evictions, in Barcelona, Spain, on September 25, 2024. (Photo by Nacho Doce/Reuters)

An Indian artist performs with fire during a procession as part of “Bonalu” festival in Hyderabad, India, Monday, Aug.10, 2015. Bonalu is a month long Hindu folk festival of India's Telangana region dedicated to Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction. (Photo by Mahesh Kumar A./AP Photo)

A picture made available on 08 July 2015 showsa lightning strikes during a heavy storm over Poznan in the night of 07 July 2015. Severe storms passed last night over Poland causing lots of damages to buildings, trees, electricity and railway tractions. (Photo by Lukasz Ogrodowczyk/EPA)

A girl jumps to touch cherry blossoms in full bloom in Fussa, outskirts Tokyo, Japan, 05 April 2014. Temperatures being very constant made blossoms to keep full bloom for holiday makers. (Photo by Kimimasa Mayama/EPA)

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.

An Egyptian passenger sits on the locomotive of a train as it leaves Cairo train station in Egypt, Wednesday, October 14, 2015. (Photo by Amr Nabil/AP Photo)