Taliban Capture 'US Military Sniffer Dog'

[icyfroth]

Looking forlorn on a lead being held by a bearded Taliban fighter, this small reddish-brown dog was paraded for a Taliban cameraman as the group's latest war trophy in Afghanistan: an American military sniffer dog.

Other fighters milled around the dog, showing off weapons they say were captured along with the dog from US forces during a night raid in eastern Laghman province just before Christmas. 

"You see the ears?" the handler said in the video, which was posted on the Taliban's Twitter account. 

"They are down. That tells you that the dog is not aggressive and just wants to feel safe. Right now the dog is terrified.

"I can see in his eyes he just wants to get his handler."

The dog, apparently called "Colonel", wears a complex harness similar to ones used by some NATO forces.

The Taliban handler said the dog's harness was fitted with a GPS tracking device, a torch and small camera when they captured it.

There were local reports a few weeks ago that a senior Taliban commander in the area was seen with a "foreign dog" but the video is the first positive sighting of the dog, the BBC reports. 

The dog appeared to be a Belgian shepherd, a breed popular with soldiers because it can work long hours without a break, The Guardian reports.

US officials said they were investigating the Taliban's claim.

NATO forces have long used dogs in Afghanistan to sniff out buried bombs and hidden narcotics, or to help search homes.

They usually stay close to the men and women who manage them but can sometimes be separated by a heavy gun battle or bomb, the Taliban handler said in the video.

Link to Article And Video

Another Casualty of that hopeless war.

The Taliban have a twitter account?

[cat_mioux]

I know and I felt sick. Still do. 😞

[debra9275]

Poor animals used in wars.

Did anyone see the movie ""War Horse"??

Gosh I cried all through that film

[lloydslights]

I hate war!  I love dogs.  I have owned working dogs, and the dog in this article was/is a working dog.  

When captured, with the gps and camera, maybe it was doing its job.  Perhaps the coordinates and pictures assisted the US in the location of the Taliban group.  Was there a follow up story of the outcome?

DEB

[**meep**]

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@lloydslights wrote:

I hate war!  I love dogs.  I have owned working dogs, and the dog in this article was/is a working dog.  

When captured, with the gps and camera, maybe it was doing its job.  Perhaps the coordinates and pictures assisted the US in the location of the Taliban group.  Was there a follow up story of the outcome?

DEB

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The dog went missing in December, it belongs to British special forces.

Four years ago, an Australian bomb-sniffing dog was lost in Afghanistan and then adopted by a Taliban leader who tried to sell her back.

Sabi, a black Labrador, was eventually recovered by an American special forces soldier who retrieved her from an unnamed man in north-eastern Oruzgan.

For years the Taliban have railed against infidel dogs who have invaded Afghanistan. Now it seems they have caught one.

Hoping this dog returns home safely, somehow.....

[**meep**]

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@debra9275 wrote:

Poor animals used in wars.

Did anyone see the movie ""War Horse"??

Gosh I cried all through that film

---

It took me a while to finally make the decision to see the movie.

i cried watching Milo and Otis

[debra9275]

me too lol

[lloydslights]

I read the whole story from Icyfroth's Subject Header.   I didn't link to the article mentioned.  

I assumed the original info from Icy was correct and responded to that introduction. 

I understand that dogs are used by a lot of armed forces.

DEB

[**meep**]

I was simply posting some additional information. 

[icyfroth]

Other dogs have been recovered?

The Taliban are not known to be kind, least of all to animals.