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.

Women look at a collapsed building caused by earthquakes, in Bhaktapur, Nepal, May 18, 2015. Nepal is facing billions in reconstruction costs with almost 745,600 buildings and homes damaged or destroyed, including at least 87,700 in the capital, according to Nepal's emergency authority. (Photo by Ahmad Masood/Reuters)

A woman cries as she watches the coffin containing the body of Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez be taken from the hospital, where he died on Tuesday, to a military academy in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, March 6, 2013. Seven days of mourning were declared, all schools were suspended for the week and friendly heads of state were expected for an elaborate funeral on Friday. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

A policer officer hits a man with a baton as he tries to maintain order while migrants wait for trains at a temporary camp near Gevgelija, Macedonia, September 7, 2015. Several thousand migrants in Macedonia boarded trains on Sunday to travel north after spending a night in a provisional camp. Macedonia has organised trains twice a day to the north border where migrants cross into Serbia to make their way to Hungary. Since June, Macedonian authorities have said that more than 60,000 migrants have entered the country, and around 1,500 entered just in one day, mainly refugees from Syria. (Photo by Stoyan Nenov/Reuters)

A man lies on the floor during a ritual at the Sorte Mountain on the outskirts of Chivacoa, in the state of Yaracuy, Venezuela October 10, 2015. One long night every year in a mountainous rainforest in Venezuela, hundreds gather to dance on red-hot embers, enter trance-like states, and worship an ancient goddess known as Maria Lionza. Those who travel to the mountain known as Sorte in central Venezuela are practitioners of a cult that is built on local indigenous traditions. (Photo by Marco Bello/Reuters)

Contestants of a tattoo competition pose for photographs at the China TATTOO convention in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, October 24, 2015. The annual convention was held in Nanning from October 23 to 25 this year. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

American reality show contestant Courtney Stodden is caught kissing a mystery woman on the beach in Santa Monica, CA on September 16, 2016. Courtney and the mystery brunette couldn't keep their hands of each other and didn't seem to care who saw their antics as they frolicked on the sand. (Photo by Canham/Splash News)

A student of the Orchestra of Recycled Instruments of Cateura holds an instrument made from recycled material by craftsman Nicolas Gomez, in Cateura, near Asuncion, May 9, 2013. The orchestra is the brainchild of its conductor Favio Chavez, who wanted to help the children of garbage pickers at the local landfill, and the instruments are made from salvaged materials by craftsman Gomez. The orchestra now involves 30 schoolchildren who have toured countries in Latin America, North America and Europe to play music ranging from Beethoven and Mozart to the Beatles and Paraguayan folk songs. (Photo by Jorge Adorno/Reuters)