In this photograph taken on May 20, 2014 nine year old Indian boy Lakhan Kale is tied with a cloth rope around his ankle, to a bus-stop pole in Mumbai. The nine-year-old boy dressed in blue lay listlessly on the pavement in the scorching Mumbai summer afternoon, his ankle tethered with rope to a bus stop, unheeded by pedestrians strolling past. Lakhan Kale cannot hear or speak and suffers from cerebral palsy and epilepsy, so his grandmother and carer tied him up to keep him safe while she went to work, selling toys and flower garlands on the city's roadsides. (Photo by Punit Paranjpe/AFP Photo)

Ahmad Sayed Rahman, a five-year-old Afghan boy who lost his right leg when he was hit by a bullet in the crossfire of a battle, dances with his prosthetic leg at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) hospital for war victims and the disabled, in Kabul on May 7, 2019. (Photo by Wakil Kohsar/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.

Jordanian soldiers pose after the opening ceremony of eighth annual Warrior Competition at the King Abdullah Special Operations Training Center (KASOTC) in Amman, Jordan, May 2, 2016. Twenty Seven Teams from Eleven countries are participating in a competition to test their military skills. (Photo by Muhammad Hamed/Reuters)

Members of the Oath Keepers and general public return fire during a simulated attack as they take part in a tactical training session in northern Idaho, U.S. October 1, 2016. In April 2015 Reuters photographer Jim Urquhart was assigned to cover the Oath Keepers during a tour of the Sugar Pine gold mine in Oregon after the group of former cops, military, firefighters and other first responders had risen to prominence during a standoff in Nevada over land rights. (Photo by Jim Urquhart/Reuters)

Mikhail Baburin, 66, talks to his cat Marquis at his house in the remote Siberian village of Mikhailovka, Krasnoyarsk region, Russia, December 5, 2016. Baburin, a former Navy man, barge worker and employee of a military plant in Krasnoyarsk, is the last inhabitant of Mikhailovka, which was founded in the 19th century by migrants from Russia's Mordovia region. He moved in 2000 to Mikhailovka where he was born and has lived there all alone for the last 10 years with only domestic animals. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

Flowers are placed on a “comfort woman” statue during the weekly Wednesday protest in front of Japanese embassy demanding for an apology and compensation from Japanese government in Seoul, South Korea, July 22, 2015. “Comfort women” is the Japanese euphemism for women who were forced into prostitution and sexually abused at Japanese military brothels before and during World War Two. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Hugo Belleri (L), a three-year-old boy and the youngest Gilles of Binche, takes part in the parade of Young Gilles of Binche during the carnival event in Binche February 17, 2015. The Binche carnival, a UNESCO World Heritage event, is the biggest and the liveliest annual event in Belgium. Up to 1,000 Gilles parade in the city centre of Binche, wearing a red, yellow and black medieval costume hung with bells and decorated with fluffy lace at the neck, wrists and ankles. (Photo by Yves Herman/Reuters)