3 sniffer dogs among Indian contingent back from Afghanistan
The 99 Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) commandos carried along their personal AK series assault weapons, helmets, ammunition, bullet-proof jackets, communication gadgets and three sniffer dogs
- Aug 18, 2021,
- Updated Aug 18, 2021 12:15 PM IST
Three sniffer dogs were part of a contingent of 99 Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) commandos who landed at the Hindon Indian Air Force (IAF) base on Tuesday aboard a military evacuation flight from Taliban-captured Afghanistan.
The aircraft landed in the national capital at around 5 pm after a brief halt at Jamnagar in Gujarat. The ITBP also brought back their personal belongings and weapons and will now undergo a 7-day long COVID-19 quarantine at the border patrol organisation's facility in Delhi.
Also Read: $83 billion spent on Afghan army ultimately benefits Taliban
The commandos were taken in brown-coloured ITBP buses from the Hindon airbase to the quarantine facility. They also carried along their personal AK series assault weapons, helmets, ammunition, bullet-proof jackets, communication gadgets and three sniffer dogs, a senior officer told PTI.
"With this, our complete contingent deployed for securing the Embassy in Kabul, its four consulates in Afghanistan and diplomats have returned. The commandos came along with the Embassy staffers along with other Indian nationals," ITBP spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey said.
Thirty diplomats including Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Rudrendra Tandon, 99 ITBP commandos and 21 civilians were onboard the C-17 Globemaster aircraft of the IAF that took off from the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Tuesday (August 17) morning and made a halt at the Jamnagar airforce base before touching down at Hindon in Ghaziabad near here in the evening, he added.
There were four journalists among the 21 civilians, he said.
The ITBP had deployed over 300 commandos for security duties in Afghanistan.
The force was first deployed to secure the premises of the Kabul Embassy, diplomats and staffers in November 2002.
Also Read: Taliban to declare 'Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan'; Afghan Embassy India account hacked
It later sent its additional detachments to similarly guard Indian consulates located in Jalalabad, Kandhar, Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat.
The detachments from the consulates have already been withdrawn after they were shut recently due to the current crisis in the country and also due to negligible footfall as the coronavirus pandemic gripped the globe.
The ITBP also was deployed to secure the Delaram-Zaranj road project that was executed by the Border Roads Organization (BRO) between 2005-08.
A number of ITBP commandos were also killed in various terrorist attacks that took place during these duties and many of them were decorated with gallantry medals.
(With inputs from PTI.)
Three sniffer dogs were part of a contingent of 99 Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) commandos who landed at the Hindon Indian Air Force (IAF) base on Tuesday aboard a military evacuation flight from Taliban-captured Afghanistan.
The aircraft landed in the national capital at around 5 pm after a brief halt at Jamnagar in Gujarat. The ITBP also brought back their personal belongings and weapons and will now undergo a 7-day long COVID-19 quarantine at the border patrol organisation's facility in Delhi.
Also Read: $83 billion spent on Afghan army ultimately benefits Taliban
The commandos were taken in brown-coloured ITBP buses from the Hindon airbase to the quarantine facility. They also carried along their personal AK series assault weapons, helmets, ammunition, bullet-proof jackets, communication gadgets and three sniffer dogs, a senior officer told PTI.
"With this, our complete contingent deployed for securing the Embassy in Kabul, its four consulates in Afghanistan and diplomats have returned. The commandos came along with the Embassy staffers along with other Indian nationals," ITBP spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey said.
Thirty diplomats including Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Rudrendra Tandon, 99 ITBP commandos and 21 civilians were onboard the C-17 Globemaster aircraft of the IAF that took off from the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Tuesday (August 17) morning and made a halt at the Jamnagar airforce base before touching down at Hindon in Ghaziabad near here in the evening, he added.
There were four journalists among the 21 civilians, he said.
The ITBP had deployed over 300 commandos for security duties in Afghanistan.
The force was first deployed to secure the premises of the Kabul Embassy, diplomats and staffers in November 2002.
Also Read: Taliban to declare 'Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan'; Afghan Embassy India account hacked
It later sent its additional detachments to similarly guard Indian consulates located in Jalalabad, Kandhar, Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat.
The detachments from the consulates have already been withdrawn after they were shut recently due to the current crisis in the country and also due to negligible footfall as the coronavirus pandemic gripped the globe.
The ITBP also was deployed to secure the Delaram-Zaranj road project that was executed by the Border Roads Organization (BRO) between 2005-08.
A number of ITBP commandos were also killed in various terrorist attacks that took place during these duties and many of them were decorated with gallantry medals.
(With inputs from PTI.)