15-year old American girl Donica Streling meets with members of SHINee (샤이니) at SM Entertainment head office on June 20, 2012 in Seoul, South Korea. Donica, diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, visited Seoul, South Korea to meet her favorite K-pop groups SHINee and Super Junior after finding hope in listening to Korean pop. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun)

A man is seen wrapped with pythons, some which include the Albino Burmese Python, as part of a show celebrating the coming Year of the Snake in the Chinese calendar, while spectators look on, in Malabon city, north of Manila, Philippines, December 28, 2012. (Photo by Romeo Ranoco/Reuters)

#1: Superman. According to McAfee, 16.50% of Web searches for Superman led to sites with viruses and other malicious software. Pictured here: The Superman costume that was worn by Christopher Reeve in “Superman: The Movie” on display at Profiles In History in Calabasas, northwest of downtown Los Angeles, on July 19, 2012 in California. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP Photo)

A muddied family photograph sits on a hallway stairwell in an apartment block on March 17, 2011 in Kensennuma, Japan. Residents were allowed back to their homes today and began the massive cleanup operation caused by a 9.0 magnitude strong earthquake that struck on March 11 off the coast of north-eastern Japan. The quake triggered a tsunami wave of up to 10 metres which engulfed large parts of north-eastern Japan. The death toll has risen past 5000 with at least 8600 people still missing. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Casket of Leibby Kletzky, a murdered eight-year-old boy who went missing from the Hasidic neighborhood of Borough Park, Brooklyn is carried during a procession on July 13, 2011 in New York City. After a two day search Kletzky's dismembered body was found partially in a suitcase inside a dumpster and partially in a refrigerator in a nearby apartment. Police detectives have taken Levi Aron, 35, into custody in connection to the killing. (Photo by Ramin Talaie/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.

This photo provided by Red Antler Processing shows the alligator sport hunting team made up of, from left, Tanner White, tag-holder Donald Woods, Will Thomas and Joey Clark as they hoist, with the help of a forklift, the longest alligator officially harvested in Mississippi, Saturday, August 26, 2023, at Red Antler Processing in Yazoo City, Miss. The male alligator weighed 802.5 pounds and measured 14 feet, 3 inches long, and its length broke the state record as the longest alligator ever caught, according to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. (Phoot by Shane Smith/Red Antler Processing via AP Photo)

Fireworks light the morning sky March 6, 2012 as the Disney Fantasy, the newest Disney Cruise Line ship, arrives in her home port of Port Canaveral, Florida after traveling nearly 4,700 miles across the Atlantic Ocean from Bremerhaven, Germany. The 4,000-passenger Disney Fantasy will welcome guests on her maiden voyage on March 31, 2012, sailing seven-night cruises to the Caribbean and Disney's private island Castaway Cay, from Port Canaveral. (Photo by Todd Anderson/Disney Parks via Getty Images)