Zoom. (Photo credit: Indian Army)
New Delhi: A rare story of canine courage has emerged from a counterinsurgency operation in the Kashmir valley. It is about a two-year-old Belgian shepherd from the Indian Army’s 28 Army Dog Unit, which sustained four bullet injuries while helping the security forces to gun down two hardcore militants.
On Sunday, security forces received a sensitive intelligence about the presence of militants in a house Anantnag district. They had no idea about their numbers. A joint team of Army, CRPF, and Jammu & Kashmir Police soldiers reached the target house and cordoned the area. When the militants didn’t surrender despite warnings, a gunbattle started. Intermittent exchange of fire carried on throughout the night. Assessing the pattern of the fire coming from the militants, the forces estimated about the presence of two militants in the house.
The Army’s technical assets determined that one of the two militants were injured and that was when Zoom was sent in to retrieve his weapon from militant and pull the out of hiding. The canine approached the target stealthily and pounced upon the militant. The two militants fired upon him and injured him severely.
Despite receiving four bullets, Zoom kept. He is now battling for his life at Srinagar-based Military Veterinary Hospital. He has gunshot wounds on his face and rear right leg.
An injured Zoom undergoing treatment. (Photo credit: Indian Army)
His dedication and courage resulted into the killing of the two militants involved in the gunbattle while holed up in the house. Officials said Zoom’s condition is critical but stable.
About Zoom:
- Zoom is a Malinois Belgian shepherd.
- It was born in September 2020.
- It joined the services earlier this year.
- It was deployed into 28 Army Dog Unit and has a service of eight months.
Currently, the Indian Army has 32 canine units and 19 of them are serving under Northern Command which is responsible for the operation in Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir.
Each canine unit has 24 dogs of different specialties. The assault dogs are trained to attack militants with rifles hiding in a room or small enclosures. They also attack if the militants are running away after carrying out terror activities, Northern Command’s Brig Devender Kumar said. “The canine soldiers deployed for different roles have been proving to be an asset. We have got successful outcomes in recent operations in Kashmir. The training has brought out positive results and we keep analysing and improving our training as per the requirements of the force.” The brigadier added.
The dogs are trained at the Dog Training Facility based at Remount Veterinary College in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
The dogs are imparted obedience and advanced training in specialist tasks like patrolling, guarding, tracking, avalanche-rescue operation, sniffing out explosives and mines. Their training has also been expanded to search and rescue operations, crude oil-leakage detection, and detection of improvised explosive devices.
