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.

“You wouldn’t normally associate power stations with beautiful scenic shots but one photographer has traveled nearly 2000 to track down the ugliest energy plants and show them in a whole new light. Czech snapper, Radek Kalhous, uses Google Earth to find the perfect locations for his unique pictures and arrives at each site after sunset to create the atmospheric shots”. – Caters News. Photo: Nuclear power station Temelin, Czech Republic. (Photo by Radek Kalhous/Caters News)

A reveller covered in paint takes part during the annual Cascamorras festival in Guadix, southern Spain September 9, 2015. The festival was inspired by a dispute between the town of Baza and Guadix over the possession of an icon of the Virgin of Piedad. The Cascamorras refers to representatives from Guadix, who were sent to Baza to recover the statue. As the Cascamorras had to stay perfectly clean to gain possession of the statue, Baza residents attempt to make them as “dirty” as possible. (Photo by Marcelo del Pozo/Reuters)

A paddler races in a giant pumpkin during the annual regatta on Lake Pisiquid in Windsor, Nova Scotia, Sunday, October 11, 2015. Participants hollow out the massive gourds and pilot them across the 500 meter course. (Photo by Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press via AP Photo)

Devotees of the Chinese Jui Tui shrine are seen with spikes piercing their cheeks during a procession celebrating the annual vegetarian festival in Phuket, Thailand in this October 19, 2015 combination photo. The festival, featuring face-piercing, sacrifice, spirit mediums and strict vegetarianism celebrates the local Chinese community's belief that abstinence from meat and various stimulants during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar will help them obtain good health and peace of mind. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)

Adorable cartoonish characters created by a Brazilian illustrator Lucas Levian accentuate the most prominent details of the pictures that he has found on Instagram. The original photos were completely bland and uninteresting; however, Lucas Levitan manages to add a comical effect to them by skillfully adding a character that is doing something completely unexpected. Who would imagу placing a little guy with an iron onto the forehead of an old man? (Photo by Lucas Levitan)

Michael Massaia's photographs are as nostalgic as they are disturbing. His long-exposure images capture a subject matter familiar to most. From a SpongeBob SquarePants popsicle to a Neapolitan ice cream sandwich, he frames the frozen treats most people's summer memories are made of. Yet, Massaia doesn't just realistically render his ice cream. He distorts the childhood favorites by melting them before his lens, until the pops resemble ominous pools of paint or celestial snapshots.

Shamekh Bluwi, an architect and fashion illustrator based in Amman, Jordan, creates beautiful paper cut-outs with women whose dresses become whatever you hold them up against. Besides being beautiful fashion drawings, they also seem like an excellent tool for coming up with inspiration for new fashion designs; simply hold up one of his drawings and see what sort of architectural lines, repeating patterns or images the women in his elegant cutouts would look good in.