Maudy – Kalulushi, Zambia. Maudy was born in a hut in a small village close to Kalulushi, in Zambia. She grew up playing in the street with the other children in the village, who all attend the same school, where students ages 3 to 10 years old are in the same class. The village has no shops, restaurants or hotels, and just a few children are lucky enough to have toys. Maudy and her friends found a box full of sunglasses on the street, which quickly became their favorite toys. “Toy Stories” project. (Photo and caption by Gabriele Galimberti)

A traffic police woman whistles at a pedestrian, Monday, July 27, 2015, in Pyongyang, North Korea where its citizens are having a one-day national holiday to celebrate the country's 62nd anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War. (Photo by Wong Maye-E/AP 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.

Ethnic Miao men wearing traditional masks smear dust on a woman's face to wish her good luck during local celebration event for Lunar New Year in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, February 16, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Kyrgyz men on horseback compete during their traditional game of “Oodarysh” during the celebrations of the 90th anniversary formation of the Chui region in the village of Kuntu some 20 kms from Bishkek on May 27, 2016. (Photo by Vyacheslav Oseledko/AFP Photo)

The figure of an eight-year-old boy is seen inside a suitcase on a Spanish civil guard scanner screen at the border between Morocco and Spain's north african enclave Ceuta, Spain in this handout photo released May 8, 2015. A 19-year-old woman was arrested May 7, 2015 for the attempted smuggling of the boy, who was checked by medics and handed over to juvenile prosecutors office, according to authorities. (Photo by Reuters/Ministerio Del Interior)

Dancers from the “Legend Lin Dance Theatre” perform the artistic director and choreographer Li-chen Lin's classic works “Hymne aux Fleurs qui Passent, Anthem to the Fading Flowers” during a rehearsal at the National Theater Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday, August 18, 2015. “Hymne aux Fleurs Qui Passent” pays tribute to the cycle of the year and the complementary principles of Yin and Yang whose eternal struggle provides the driving force behind the changing of the seasons. (Photo by Chiang Ying-ying/AP Photo)

Karis, an 8 week old lion cub, growls at a pumpkin as she explores a Halloween treat put in her enclosure by staff at Blair Drummond Safari Park near Stirling, Scotland, Tuesday, October 29, 2013. (Photo by Andrew Milligan/AP Photo/PA Wire)