Maya, Bobby, Roobi — ITBP sniffer dogs who returned home from Kabul aboard IAF C-17 aircraft
☰
Diplomacy

Maya, Bobby, Roobi — ITBP sniffer dogs who returned home from Kabul aboard IAF C-17 aircraft

The three K9 sniffer dogs had been deployed to secure the Indian Embassy in Kabul three years ago.

Unnati Sharma    

Three K9 sniffer dogs Maya, Roobi and Bobby who were evacuated from Kabul | By special arrangement

New Delhi: When the IAF C-17 aircraft landed in India Tuesday, three dogs were also aboard the plane that evacuated 120 Indian diplomats, journalists and other civilians from Afghanistan’s capital city Kabul.

Three Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) K9 sniffer dogs — Maya, Bobby and Roobi — returned to India after serving in the Indian Embassy in Kabul for the past three years. Maya is a Labrador, Bobby a Doberman and Roobi belongs to the Malinois breed.

A source from ITBP told ThePrint that during their deployment at the embassy, the three K9 dogs saved the lives of Indian diplomats with great bravery and also the Afghan residents working there.

The dogs were airlifted along with other Indians from Kabul to the Air Force Station in Jamnagar, Gujarat. The dogs along with their handlers and 99 other ITBP troops landed at the Hindon base in Ghaziabad Tuesday and have now reached ITBP Chawala Camp at Delhi.

“These hero K9s have done an outstanding job in securing the Embassy. They report that all three brave darlings are extremely happy to touch Indian Soil and come back to familiar sights, smells and sounds of our nation,” said the ITBP in a statement.

The three dogs had been trained at the National Training Centre for Dogs at Bhanu, Panchkula.

Meanwhile, US military dogs were also evacuated from Kabul Monday and a photo of one of the dogs sitting in an aircraft had gone viral.

Also read: In the end, the Afghan army was always doomed

Over 160 Indians evacuated from Afghanistan

Over 120 people including officials and security personnel from the Indian embassy were airlifted in the IAF aircraft Monday after the Taliban took over the capital Sunday night.

Before this, another C-17 aircraft had evacuated around 40 people Monday including a number of Indian embassy staff from Kabul before the operations at the city’s airport were suspended.

The two aircraft flew into Kabul using the Iranian airspace, avoiding the Pakistani airspace after the situation in Afghanistan worsened due to the Taliban takeover.

The ITBP was first deployed at the Indian embassy in Kabul to safeguard diplomats and staffers in November 2002.

Also read: ‘Forever spy’ Amrullah Saleh proclaims himself Afghan President to revive Panjshir resistance