With their overseas assignment in Afghanistan coming to an abrupt end due to deteriorating situation in the country as the Taliban assumed control with US disengaging from there, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police’s trained dogs who returned recently are back in action.

Yes, we are talking about the combat canines – Roobi (a female Belgian Malinois breed), Maya (female Labrador) and Bobby (male Doberman) – who have now been posted in the anti-Naxal operations unit operating in Chhattisgarh.

Part of the ITBP commando security contingent in Afghanistan the three on their return from there were moved to a special dog kennel at the ITBP camp in south-west Delhi’s Chhawla area. They had arrived at Ghaziabad’s Hindon airbase on August 17 (Tuesday) in a special military evacuation flight. They were part of the 150 member Indian contingent, including 99 ITBP commandos, that took an IAF aircraft from Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport to reach Hindon.

The trio had worked tirelessly guarding the Indian Embassy in Kabul and its diplomatic staff. An ITPB source said: “The three dogs detected many improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and protected the lives of not only Indian diplomats but also the local Afghan civilians working in the embassy."

The official added: “They will soon be deployed with ITBP units undertaking anti-Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh.”

These canines were raised and trained at Bhanu near Chandigarh where the ITBP national training centre for dogs (NTCD) is located.