The President of the United States, President Donald Trump has released the photo of the Dog that helped Delta Force and the Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment soldiers in the hunt for Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria.
The Dog was said to have chased the ISIS leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi into a tunnel before he detonated a suicide vest and died, with the Dog sustaining a minor injury.
President Trump released the image of the Dog a few days after he made a statement about how Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi died, and the efforts made by the Dog during the U.S. Special Operations raid.
“Our canine, as they call – I call it a dog, a beautiful dog, a talented dog – was injured and brought back,” President Donald Trump had said.
Trump shared the image on Monday, October 28th, where he tweeted a declassified photograph of the furry special operator, a Belgian Malinois, spotting an armoured vest. In the image, its ears stood alert and its tongue hung loose, with a caption that reads:
“We have declassified a picture of the wonderful dog (name not declassified) that did such a GREAT JOB in capturing and killing the Leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi!” Trump had tweeted.
The name and other details about the dog remain a secret.
Three US officials, General Mark Milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff speaking on the sensitivity about the raid, said Monday morning that the dog’s identity was classified because of its affiliation with a classified unit. Releasing the name, they said, ran the risk of identifying the service members to which it was assigned.
“We’re not releasing the name of the dog right now,” said Army Gen. Mark Milley
He said the dog was “slightly wounded” but is now recovering and has returned to duty with its handler at an undisclosed location.
He and Defence Secretary Mark Esper said the US is protecting the dog’s identify by keeping any information about the canine classified for now.
“We are not releasing the name of the dog right now,” General Milley said. “The dog is still in theatre.”
US officials told several reporters after the news conference the dog’s breed – a common one in Special Operations, where the Belgian Malinois is prized for its intelligence, athleticism and ferocity when required.
Mr Trump gave a dramatic account of the raid in Syria, variously saying there was one dog and multiple canines involved in the operation.
He said that as US troops and their dogs closed in, the militant went “whimpering and crying and screaming all the way” to his death.
“He reached the end of the tunnel, as our dogs chased him down,” Mr Trump said.