Indian Army dog Domino played a very important role in the elimination of two dreaded Pakistani terrorists including one self-styled commander of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) Quari on Wednesday.
According to defence sources, the Army dog tracked the terrorists who were hiding in a hideout. It was only after the dog located the terrorists they were eliminated by the security forces.
According to the Army officials, the Indian Army dog Domino and his handler Lance Naik Lucky Kumar were awarded on-the-spot Northern Army Commendation Card by Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi for their role in tracking down a Pakistani terrorist in his hideout in the recent Rajouri encounter.
The dog helped the troops reach the hideout of terrorists by sniffing his blood trail in the Kalakote area after he had been injured in a gunfight.
Well-trained assault dogs are used to tear into the hiding locations of the terrorists. They are trained to cause fatal injuries to the terrorists.
The officials said these trained dogs, when laced with cameras, also help in determining the accurate positions of the terrorists along with other details like weapons and ammunition that the terrorists have.
Earlier in August 2022, Army's sniffer dog "Axel" who made a supreme sacrifice during an encounter with terrorists in north Kashmir's Baramulla district.
Army Assault Canine Dog 'Axel' laid down his life in the line of duty during a counter-terrorism operation at Wanigambala, district Baramulla, Kashmir. Axel was providing services to clear a building when he was shot three times.
Alex, who was only a two-year-old light-brown Belgian Malinois, was part of the 26 Army Dog Unit. He was deployed with 29 Rashtriya Rifles units in the area of 10 Sector RR counter-insurgency forces.
Officer sacrificed his life while protecting women, children during Rajouri encounter
Sharing details of the Rajouri encounter Army officials said that for the last few days, there were continuous inputs of the movement of two terrorists in the general area Kalakote and all the intelligence agencies were working relentlessly, to eliminate them.
On the night of 19 November 23 a confirmed input of a high-ranked terrorist leader of LeT namely 'Quari' who was active in the Rajouri- Poonch area, along with one more accomplice, was received. Immediately coordinated joint operations by the Indian Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police, and intelligence agencies were launched in the area.
"On 22 November input of these two terrorists was again received in General area Kabokot. Our troops commenced searching the dense forest where the likely presence of terrorists was expected, which had some residents too staying in dhoks nearby. The place where our team was searching the jungle, where some civilians were also in close vicinity, the terrorists opened fire.
Sensing danger to the lives of innocent women and children, the officer came out of his cover and pinned down the terrorists, thus averting imminent danger to the civilians. While saving the lives of the residents, the officer was hit by a stray volley of fire and made the supreme sacrifice", the Army official said.
