Axel’s Supreme Sacrifice: Unsung canine heroes of Indian Army

New Delhi: Axel, a two-year-old assault dog of the Indian Army, lost his life in a counter-terrorist operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla on Saturday. [caption id=“attachment_10987531” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Axel, assault dog of the Indian Army. Image courtesy: @NorthernComd_IA[/caption] Last respects were paid to the assault dog on Sunday. The dog was reportedly hit around the head by three bullets and killed after being sent to sniff out the terrorist’s location. Axel of the 26 Army Dog Unit was deployed in a counter-terrorist operation with 29 Rashtriya Rifles unit in the area of 10 Sector RR counter-insurgency force, Army officials told ANI. [video width=“640” height=“352” mp4=“https://images.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Axel-video.mp4"][/video] During a building clearance operation, initially, another Army dog ‘Balaji’ was sent for building intervention and sanitised the corridor inside. “After that, Axel was deployed. The dog went inside the first room and cleared it. As soon as it entered the second room, it was fired upon. After being hit, it showed some movement for 15 seconds and fell down,” they said. The gunfight continued between the troops and terrorists and once the operation was over, Axel’s body was retrieved. Post mortem was carried out at 54 Armed Force Veterinary Hospital which showed that besides the bullet entry and exit wounds, more than ten wounds were also there along with a fracture of the femur. A few weeks back, an Army soldier along with the Army’s sniffer dog Kanak – a Labrador – detected an IED on a highway near Pattan in North Kashmir’s Baramulla, potentially saving dozens of lives on the busy route, sources told The Print. At present, several dogs of the Indian Army are deployed in counter insurgency areas, while many of them provide security to VIPs and guard strategic defence installations. Over the past few decades, many dog units in the Army have excelled in a large number of operational missions, receiving honours like Shaurya Chakras, Sena Medals and Chief of the Army Staff’s recognition. Here’s a sneak peek into the training of these special dogs by the counter-terrorism units of Indian Army. Belgian Malinois, a specialised attack canine, are known for their excellent agility, endurance, stamina, bite work, intelligence and trainability

#IndianArmy
RVCC&C of @artrac_ia has introduced the use of @Belgian Malinois dogs as Assault dogs . They are known for their excellent agility, endurance, stamina, bite work, olfactory acuity, intelligence & trainability. pic.twitter.com/jozy1s8WNa

— Army Training Command, Indian Army (@artrac_ia) November 28, 2021

Back in 2016, Army dogs, who saved the lives of numerous soldiers in counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations, took part in the Republic Day Parade on 26 January after a gap of 26 years. For the same, the Army selected 36 canines to march down the Rajpath with their handlers. A war dog training school was raised on 1 March, 1960 at Meerut, according to PTI. Basic and advance training to dogs and their trainers on specialised jobs like explosive detection, mine detection, tracking, guarding and assaulting is imparted at the Remount and Veterinary Corps (RVC) Centre and College. The Indian Army dogs are trained in sniffing bombs, hunting down enemies, locating secret places and fetching evidence. The Army generally uses Labradors, German Shepherds and Belgian Shepherds, depending on the altitude and weather, besides the nature of assignment which may include routine patrol to explosives detection. Here’s a list of some of the unsung canine heroes of the Indian Army, according to a report in The Better India - Rex - Rex, a golden Labrador, was born in 1993 and posted to 14 Army Dog Unit under Delta Force. In 1995, Rex tracked a terrorist injured in an encounter. After a chase that lasted for over four hours, he managed to recover one AK 56 rifle and a haversack containing 92 rounds. Later on, in 1998, Rex traced the body of a terrorist in a hideout where he had succumbed to his injuries. In another operation in Daraba near Rajouri, Rex suffered a fall and sustained serious intestinal injuries. He passed away on 22 September, 1999. Rocket - Back in June 1998, as Indian troops had an encounter with terrorists in Kashmir, Rocket was pressed into action. He obtained the scent from a scarf left behind by terrorists and soon recovered one universal machine gun, three AK-47s, two AK-56s and one sniper rifle, two 9 mm pistols, seven radio sets, 11 IEDs, 26 hand grenades, 37 electric detonators and over 1500 rounds of ammunition. Manasi - In August 2015, Manasi - a four-year-old Army Labrador - sensed the movement of some terrorists along the LoC in Kupwara and immediately started dragging her handler Bashir Ahmad towards the target. At that time, search operations took place under poor visibility and unfortunately, both the dog and handler were killed in a hail of gunfire. Not just that, in February last year it was reported that the Indian Army is using its dogs for quick detection of COVID-19 to cut down time delays associated with regular diagnostic techniques. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.