A young woman cools herself in a fountain in Budapest, Hungary July 6, 2015. Over the weekend, a heat wave has reached Hungary with temperatures topping 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit). (Photo by Laszlo Balogh/Reuters)

A performer wearing costumes walk on stilts before a show during a lantern fair at the beginning of Chinese Lunar New Year, in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, February 11, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Smoke rises during an explosion from an Israeli forces strike in Gaza City, Saturday, November 17, 2012. Israel bombarded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with nearly 200 airstrikes early Saturday, the military said, widening a blistering assault on Gaza rocket operations by militants to include the prime minister's headquarters, a police compound and a vast network of smuggling tunnels. (Photo Hatem Moussa/AP Photo)

A Pakistani child, whose family was displaced by 2010 floods from a village in Pakistan's Sindh province, sits on a wooden cart outside her family's makeshift home, in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, on February 8, 2013. (Photo by Muhammed Muheisen/AP Photo)

A girl jumps to touch cherry blossoms in full bloom in Fussa, outskirts Tokyo, Japan, 05 April 2014. Temperatures being very constant made blossoms to keep full bloom for holiday makers. (Photo by Kimimasa Mayama/EPA)

Young “scissors” dancers pose after performing in a national scissors dance competition at Lima's Exposition Park, May 18, 2014. The Danza de las tijeras, or scissors dance, is a traditional dance from the Peruvian southern region of the Andes, in which two or more performers take turns dancing while accompanied with music from a harp and a violin. Dancers would display various skills and moves, which include cutting the air with the use of a scissors. (Photo by Enrique Castro-Mendivil/Reuters)

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.

People work with cocoa beans in Enchi June 17, 2014. Picture taken June 17, 2014. Ghana emerged as a success story during the 2000s, when war, political instability and a disastrous liberalization brought Ivory Coast's cocoa sector to its knees. Ghana's output more than tripled from 340,000 tons in the 2001/02 season to a record 1,025,000 tons a decade later. Strict controls cemented its reputation as a producer of top quality beans, establishing a brand that fetches a premium. (Photo by Thierry Gouegnon/Reuters)