Relatives perform the last rites before the cremation of their loved one who died due to the Covid-19 coronavirus at a cremation ground in Allahabad on May 4, 2021. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/AFP Photo)

Lali carries balloons to sell on a beach in Mumbai, India, Sunday, October 11, 2015. The United Nations General Assembly marks October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child, to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world. (Photo by Rafiq Maqbool/AP Photo)

A Belarussian tourist crosses the river as he takes part in “Search and rescue operations – 2016”, a three-day competition, near the village of Priselki, Belarus, November 25, 2016. Photo taken November 25, 2016. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

Syrian civil defence volunteers, known as the White Helmets, rescue a boy from the rubble following a reported barrel bomb attack on the Bab al- Nairab neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on November 24, 2016. (Photo by Ameer Alhalbi/AFP Photo)

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.

AP photographer Anja Niedringhaus laughs as she attends a swimming event at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, August 21, 2004. Niedringhaus, a veteran Associated Press photographer who had covered wars around the world was shot dead and another reporter was wounded on April 4, 2014 when an Afghan policeman opened fire on them in eastern Afghanistan, the news agency said. (Photo by Reuters/Staff)

A view of a turtle during an event at the Ministry of Environment in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 24 June 2020. A Cambodian woman recently bought endangered Royal Turtles from local villagers and gave them to Ministry of Environment. (Photo by Kith Serey/EPA/EFE)

Indian Muslim devotees travel in an auto rickshaw during the Urs festival in Ajmer, India, Thursday, April 23, 2015. Thousands of devotees from different parts of India travel to the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisht for the annual festival marking the saint's death anniversary. (Photo by Deepak Sharma/AP Photo)