Army assault dog Zoom, who pinned down terrorists in Kashmir, is battling for his life

Indian Army's assault dog Zoom is battling for his life at Srinagar-based Military veterinary Hospital after receiving gunshot wounds on his face and rear right leg while fighting terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir's Anantnag district. Zoom's courage resulted in the elimination of two hardcore terrorists in a joint operation launched by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, CRPF and the Indian Army on Sunday.

Sources in the defence establishment said: "His condition is stable, but critical."

The security forces received sensitive intelligence about the presence of terrorists in the area. They had no idea about the number of terrorists at the spot. Post-surveillance, the troops arrived at the target house. The forces readjusted the cordon, and intermittent exchange of fire continued throughout the night. From the pattern of gunfire, the forces concluded that there were two terrorists present in the house. 

How Zoom helped the forces

As per an Indian Army official, the technical assets spotted that one of two terrorists sustained injuries. Zoom was sent to the target house to retrieve the weapon from terrorists and pull them out of hiding. 

The Indian Army canine soldier approached the target stealthily and pounced upon the terrorist. The terrorists fired upon him and injured him severely. However, Zoom destabilized them, and subsequently, the forces neutralized them with precision fire. 

What you should know about Zoom

The canine soldier is a Malinois or Belgian Shepherd born in September 2020. He joined the services earlier this year. He was deployed to the Indian Army's 28 Army Dog Unit (ADU) and had eight months of service.

Currently, the Indian Army has 32 canine Units, and 19 of them are serving under the Northern Command which is responsible for operations in Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. 

It should be noted that each canine unit has 24 dogs of different specialities. The assault dogs are trained to attack terrorists with rifles hiding in rooms. Northern Command's Brig Devender Kumar said they also attack if the terrorists are running away after carrying out terror activities. 

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"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 analyzing and improving our training as per the requirements of the force." Brig Devendra Kumar added.

The dogs are trained at the Dog Training Facility based at Remount Veterinary College, Meerut. They are imparted obedience and advanced training in specialist tasks like patrolling, guarding, tracking, avalanche rescue operation and sniffing out explosives and mine detection. 

Now, the training has also been expanded to search and rescue operations, crude oil leakage detection and detection of IEDs.