The Syrian refugee folklore troupe Abu Rustom perform at a wedding show at Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria February 20, 2017. The Syrian troupe is trying to keep its country's traditions alive by holding traditional dances and performing celebratory sword fights during weddings and other occasions, according to the troupe's leader. (Photo by Muhammad Hamed/Reuters)

A selection of winning images from the Life in Another Light photo contest 2020, from Kolari Vision. Here: Lights and Shadows in the Dolomites, in the landscape infrared category. (Photo by Tomasz Grzyb/Kolari Vision)

Tulane University graduates pop prosecco as they pose for graduation photos on a largely empty Bourbon Street, due to the coronavirus pandemic, in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Tuesday, May 12, 2020. (Photo by Gerald Herbert/AP Photo)

An entertainer walks during snowfall at the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy (VDNKh) in Moscow, Russia on December 18, 2022. (Photo by Yulia Morozova/Reuters)

An armed demonstrator lifting a Palestinian and Yemeni flags gestures during an anti-Israel and anti-US rally in the Huthi-controlled capital Sanaa on January 19, 2024, protesting the US designation of Yemen's Huthi rebels as “terrorists”, after a series of attacks on Red Sea shipping amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant Hamas group in Gaza. (Photo by Mohammed Huwais/AFP Photo)

U.S. Army helicopters providing support for U.S. ground troops fly into a staging area fifty miles northeast of Saigon, Vietnam, August 28, 1966. Helicopter fuel is stored in the large rubber tanks, foreground. (Photo by Henri Huet/AP 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.

Magbola Alhadi, 20, and her three children pose for a portrait in Jamam refugee camp in Maban County, South Sudan on August 11th, 2012. Magboola and her family weathered aerial bombing raids for several months, but decided it was time to leave their village of Bofe the night that soldiers arrived and opened fire. With her three children, she travelled for 12 days from Bofe to the town of El Fudj, on the South Sudanese border. The most important thing that Magboola was able to bring with her is the saucepan she holds in this photograph. It wasn't the largest pot that she had in Bofe, but it was small enough she could travel with it, yet big enough to cook sorghum for herself and her three daughters (from left: Aduna Omar, 6, Halima Omar, 4, and Arfa Omar, 2) during their journey. (Photo by Brian Sokol/Panos Pictures)