These young sloth bears hitch a ride on their mother's back as she forages for food in the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve in the Indian state of Rajasthan in May 2023. (Photo by Aditya Singh/Solent News)

A general view of a beauty salon on July 8, 2023 in Kabul, Afghanistan. This week, a Taliban spokesman said the group, which regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, was ordering the closure of beauty salons because they offered services forbidden by Islam. (Photo by Nava Jamshidi/Getty Images)

Residents of Mathare slum fill bags with coal in hard conditions in the capital of Kenya, Nairobi on November 06, 2023. The coal that workers produce with primitive methods by working overtime in unlicensed workshops is used for heating, cooking and other daily needs. (Photo by Gerald Anderson/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Visitors look at the work titled “In Bed”, 2005 by Australian-born artist Ron Mueck at Triennale di Milano on January 09, 2024 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Giuseppe Cottini/Getty Images)

This handout picture released by the Icelandic Coast Guard on May 29, 2024 shows billowing smoke and flowing lava pouring out of a new fissure, during a surveilance flight above a new volcanic eruption on the outskirts of the evacuated town of Grindavik, western Iceland. (Photo by Icelandic Coast Guard/Handout via AFP Photo)

A man rides a bicycle past a mural portraying Bollywood actor Aamir Khan and slogans to encourage people to cast their vote, in Jalandhar on May 10, 2024 ahead of the fourth phase of voting of India's general election. (Photo by Shammi Mehra/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.

Israeli soldiers pray at dawn as the conflict between Palestine and Gaza enters its seventh day on November 20, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. Hamas militants and Israel are continuing talks aimed at a ceasefire as the death toll in Gaza reaches more than 100 and also three Israelis killed by rockets fired by Palestinian militants. (Photo by Christopher Furlong)