Taliban Claim To Have Captured A US Dog Of War

[Ryan Ruck]

Taliban Claim To Have Captured A US Dog Of War

February 6, 2014



For years the Taliban have railed against infidel dogs who have invaded Afghanistan.

Now it seems they have caught one.

A video released by the Taliban’s cultural arm, al-Emara, pictures long-haired gunmen showing off the spoils of war.



They include weapons captured, they claimed, in an operation against American forces on December 23 as well as a subdued-looking canine on a chain. It wears the sort of shoulder harness used by working dogs.

“This dog was named after a colonel,” said one of the fighters. “It had a torch on it and its neck wore a GPS.”

Dogs are used extensively by coalition forces in Afghanistan. Some work sniffing out IEDs, weapons or drugs while others have a search and rescue role.

It is a dangerous job.

Last year it emerged that four dogs – two Labradors, a Springer spaniel cross and a Belgian shepherd – had died working alongside their Army handlers in Helmand since March 2011.

A spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance force in Kabul said: “We are aware of the video. However, we have no operational reporting to confirm it.”

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.

I hope they just happened to find the vest and stuck it on one of the many strays running around over there.

[Ryan Ruck]

An update. That dog's handler must feel horrible.

Afghan Taliban Capture British Military Dog

February 6, 2014

ISAF officials in Afghanistan have confirmed a military dog went missing during a mission in December last year.

US military sources say the dog belonged to a coalition partner and the BBC understands it was working for British forces.

The Taliban earlier released footage of what they claimed was a dog they captured from US troops.

They said the dog, apparently called Colonel, was wearing a GPS tracking device, a torch and small camera.

Looking rather mournful, on a lead being held by a long-haired Taliban fighter, the small reddish-brown dog was paraded for a Taliban cameraman, reports the BBC's David Loyn in Kabul.

The Taliban said the dog was taken during a night raid in Laghman in eastern Afghanistan in late December.

The insurgents also showed off captured weapons of a type frequently used by American special forces.

Our correspondent says 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.

Coalition forces have long used sniffer and protection dogs in Afghanistan, mostly German shepherds, Labradors or spaniels.

God do I hope SAS goes in there and smokes some Hadji ass to rescue their soldier.

[Ryan Ruck]

More...

Military Working Dog In Afghanistan Is MIA

February 6, 2014

A NATO spokesman confirmed Thursday that a military working dog went missing in Afghanistan in December, lending some credence to a Taliban claim that it had captured a NATO dog and weapons just before Christmas.

“We can confirm that a military working dog went missing following an ISAF mission in December, 2013,” Army Lt. Col. Will Griffin wrote in an email to Stars and Stripes. “It is ISAF policy to defer identification to the appropriate national authorities.”

A purported Taliban video that surfaced this week features five bearded men and one very nervous-looking dog outfitted with a fancy harness similar to those worn by canines that accompany U.S. Special Forces.

Griffin said he cannot confirm the video’s authenticity.

It’s impossible to tell from the tape whether the scared animal is an actual military working dog or just made up to look like one, though the video goes on to provide more evidence to back the Taliban’s claims.

The video’s star, a man in a shalwar khameez, shows off what looks to be a broken U.S. military assault rifle, possibly an M4 or M14, and a tricked-out M4 with some high-tech sights and other gear, all of which point to — but do not prove — U.S. origins. He also pulls out some grenades that look like the standard M67 models carried by American ground pounders.

Interestingly, both of the assault rifles look to be fitted with suppressors, devices that reduce the noise and flash of firing. Those devices aren’t common among conventional forces, but are used by some American Special Forces and snipers.

According to the Taliban, they captured the dog and weapons when NATO forces attacked their compound in Alingar district in late December 2013. A Dec. 23 news release from the Taliban noted that they had capture weapons, but there was no mention of a dog until an updated version of the release was posted with the video.

I guarantee that dog is worth more than 1000 of those Taliban turds.

[American Patriot]

Agree = I guarantee that dog is worth more than 1000 of those Taliban turds.