The Kremlin's Spasskaya (Saviour) Tower, covered by scaffolding, is seen behind the mausoleum of Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin at the Red Square in Moscow, December 23, 2014. The restoration works will last until the spring of 2015, according to local media. (Photo by Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)

A man dressed as Father Frost, Russian equivalent of Santa Claus, sits by the fire with a reindeer Yakut, marking winter solstice at the Royev Ruchey Park of Flora and Fauna in the Siberian Taiga wood in the suburbs of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, December 21, 2016. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

Participants take part in the annual Great Spitalfields Pancake Race in aid of London's Air Ambulance in London, Britain February 9, 2016. (Photo by Stefan Wermuth/Reuters)

Belgian singer Angèle performs onstage at the 2023 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 14, 2023 in Indio, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Coachella)

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.

Iranian Kurdish female members of the Freedom Party of Kurdistan (PAK) hold a position on November 6, 2016 in an area near the town of Bashiqa, some 25 kilometres north east of Mosul, during an operation against Islamic State (IS) group jihadists to retake the main hub city. (Photo by Safin Hamed/AFP Photo)

WrestlerTeddy Sheedi (L) fights his opponent during the traditional Sindhi Malakhra wrestling in Karachi, Pakistan, 13 December 2020. A Malakhra match begins with both wrestlers tying a twisted cloth around the opponent's waist. Each one then holds onto the opponent's waistcloth and tries to throw him to the ground. (Photo by Shahzaib Akber/EPA/EFE)

Undated handout photo issued by Guinness World Records of Fabio Reggiani from Italy who has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for constructing the worlds largest rideable motorcycle measuring 5.10 meters (16ft 8.78 in) from the ground to the top of the handlebars. Six times larger than a normal motorcycle, it's 10.03 m long, 2.5 m wide, and weighs approximately 5,000 kg (5 tonnes). (Photo by Guinness World Records/PA Wire)