A Japan soccer fan reacts as she watches Japan's FIFA Women's World Cup final match against the U.S. in Vancouver, at a public viewing event in Tokyo, Japan, July 6, 2015. Japan lost the match 5-2 to the U.S. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Reuters)

Members of staff makes last minute touch ups of wax figure Chewbacca, from Star Wars, on display at “Star Wars At Madame Tussauds” on May 12, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)

Yang Shiguang, 77, performs stunts at a park in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, September 3, 2013. Yang has been a member of a stunt performance club since 2007, after retiring from a research institution. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

The current world Champions in the Men's and Women's RS:X, Piotr Myszka of Poland and Blanca Manchon of Spain arrive at Bathers Beach carrying the ISAF World Championships Flag to be raised to officially open the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships on December 2, 2011 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Mark Dadswell/Getty Images)

A picture made available in 01 July 2016 shows a 16-meter-long and 6.5-meter-high model of a Spinosaurus installed by employees of the dinosaur park in Muenchenhagen in the region of Hannover, Germany, 28 June 2016. The model is considered the only replica of this dinosaur species worldwide. The outdoor museum at Lake Steinhude shows more than 230 true-to-scale replica of dinosaurs. (Photo by Holger Hollemann/EPA)

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.

A Syrian boy is comforted as he cries next to the body of a relative who died in a reported airstrike on April 27, 2016 in the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Soukour in the northern city of Aleppo. The Syrian army was preparing an offensive to retake the whole of Aleppo, as fighting in the divided second city killed 38 civilians in a new blow for a tattered truce. Nearly 200 people have been killed in Aleppo in the past week as rebels have pounded government-held neighbourhoods with rocket and artillery fire and the regime has hit rebel areas with air raids. (Photo by Karam Al-Masri/AFP Photo)

U.S. Rep Steve Southerland grins after winning an auctioned possum during the Wausau Possum Festival on Saturday, August 2, 2014, in Wausau, Fla. What is usually a must-attend event for statewide candidates was notably lacking of them this year, perhaps because candidates who now raise tens of millions of dollars focus more on television ads than making personal contact. But not attending is a missed opportunity, said Susan MacManus, a University of South Florida political science professor who drove more than 350 miles for the festival. (Photo by Heather Leiphart/AP Photo/The News Herald)