Dog’s devotion to duty in Afghan battle earns ‘VC’
‘Despite sustaining quite horrendous injuries, he absolutely stayed by his handler’s side’
A DOG that sniffed out Taliban booby traps as elite British troops fought to clear militants from a Kabul tower block will today be awarded the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross.
The Belgian Malinois known as Mali was badly injured by shrapnel, but was credited with saving British and Afghan lives as it took part in the Special Boat Service (SBS) assault.
During the mission SBS troops fought at close quarters to knock out a heavily armed suicide squad holed up in a half-built block on the edge of the city’s diplomatic district. The mission to end the siege is thought to have been one of the most heavily decorated actions in Britain’s Afghan campaign.
Eight-year-old Mali has now been awarded the PDSA Dickin Medal for its role, joining only 68 other animals ever to receive the decoration.
Jan Mcloughlin, director general of the veterinary charity, said: “Despite sustaining quite horrendous injuries, he absolutely stayed by his handler’s side and forged forward with them to help them carry out their duty. It’s that gallantry and devotion we are recognising.” SBS operators and their Afghan counterparts spent hours fighting to clear the block in April 2012. The militants seized the multi-storey building site as part of coordinated assaults across the country to herald the start of the Taliban’s summer offensive. As they fortified themselves inside, they began to rain down gunfire and rocketpropelled grenades on nearby buildings, including the British and German embassies.
Its handler during the raid, who cannot be identified, said Mali had saved the lives and limbs of British and Afghan troops as they fought up floor-byfloor through the six-storey block.
He said the dog had already “shown its mettle and built a reputation amongst all the guys”. He added: “By the time we launched on to this operation we really felt that we had a guardian angel amongst us, nothing was going to happen to us.” The militants repeatedly threw grenades through holes in the floor down on to the approaching forces, peppering Mali and his handler with shrapnel. The handler said: “We were in there for eight and a half hours. We found ourselves in quite a dark sort of place. A couple of the guys I was working with had to be taken out with quite nasty injuries.”
Mali was trained both as an attack dog and sniffer dog. At one point the dog was sent ahead to see if it could find a safe route, and prevented the unit advancing through an area laced with booby traps.
The handler said: “It stopped the guys I was working with using that route. If they had gone up there, people would have lost arms and legs and inevitably their lives.” Mali’s injuries were only noticed when the fighting had finished. The dog suffered wounds to its belly, ears and chest.
Mali has now retired from active duties and is a training animal attached to the Royal Army Veterinary Corps (RAVC). Cpl Dan Hatley, Mali’s current handler, said: “You can have a really good play with him, a really good cuddle, but at the same time, when you want to work, he’s on point, working.”