New Delhi, Oct 30: Dogs with the canine units of the Indian Army have proved to be the best friends of security forces in Jammu and Kashmir and North East, helping detect 35 IEDs planted by militants in the two areas.
 Trained to detect various combinations of explosives hidden under layers of rocks and vegetation, the dogs can also detect explosives which may escape detection by electronic scanners.
 The canine units this year managed to detect 35 high powered IEDs in Jammu and Kashmir and North East, Army sources told PTI here.
 Out of these 35 instances, 19 were reported from militancy-hit areas of Kashmir Valley, they said.
 Rest of the 16 cases were reported from North East region where the IEDs were planted under thick layers of vegetation making their detection difficult by electronic scanners.
 Apart from the explosives, the canine units were also successful in detecting 24 cases of narcotics being smuggled by insurgents in the North East.
 Some of the IEDs detected by these dogs were planted on the routes used by the Army for moving its convoys for winter stocking and other purposes.
 "We can say that these dogs have actually helped in averting some big incidents," the sources said.
 The Indian Army has been training and employing dogs of various different breeds such as German Shepherd, Labrador, Doberman, Boxer and Bull dogs.
 Besides the basic obedience training, these dogs are trained in various different traits suiting their capability such as detecting arms and ammunition, explosives, contrabands and guard duties at vulnerable installations like ammunition depot and radar stations, aircraft hangers and etc.
 To meet the ever-increasing need for such dogs, the Remount and Veterinary Corps (RVC) has been undertaking the task of breeding and rearing of pups.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 30 Oct 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 30 Oct 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 31 Oct 2011 00:00:00 IST