Models in action at the Kibera Fashion Week event in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, October 14, 2023. (Photo by Brian Inganga/AP Photo)

Thousands of fireflies dance around Aurora Ghizzi Panizza, age 4, in the grounds of the 15th-century Castello di Torrechiara in Parma, Italy on July 16, 2022. (Photo by Alberto Ghizzi Panizza/Animal News Agency)

Local resident Rita holds a cat while her neighbour Raisa saws firewood next to their residential building heavily damaged by permanent Russian military strikes in the front line town of Avdiivka, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine on November 8, 2023. (Photo by Serhii Nuzhnenko/Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty via Reuters)

A visitor poses next to Chinese charms and ornaments that are seen on display for sale at a shop in the Chinatown district of Manila on February 7, 2024, ahead of the Lunar New Year of the Dragon which falls on February 10. (Photo by Ted Aljibe/AFP Photo)

A Muslim faithful celebrates during the Eid al-Fitr festival, marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, in Kaduna, Nigeria on April 10, 2024. (Photo by Marvellous Durowaiye/Reuters)

Actress Dakyta Daniela Aita rolls herself on the red carpet after its is rolled out ahead of the 96th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 6, 2024. The 96th Annual Academy Awards will be held on March 10. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP Photo)

Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey attend the “Jurassic World Rebirth” New York Premiere at Lincoln Center on June 23, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/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.