President Declassifies Photo of Raid Hero

The name of the dog wounded in attack remains a secret
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 28, 2019 6:25 PM CDT
President Declassifies Photo of Raid Hero
President Trump posted this photo of the dog wounded in the raid in Syria on Twitter.   (White House via AP)

The nation got its first look at the military dog wounded in the US raid that ended in the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi when President Trump tweeted a photo Monday. But one mystery remains, CBS reports. "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," the president wrote. Trump had praised the dog, who was sent into a tunnel to chase Baghdadi at a compound in Syria, when he announced the raid Sunday. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs had said earlier that the dog's name was not being released yet. "The dog is still in theater, returned to duty with its handlers," Gen. Mark Milley said.

A dog named Cairo helped Navy SEALs in the raid that brought the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011, per CNN. Like Cairo, the dog used in the latest raid is a Belgian Malinois, a breed similar to German shepherds but smaller. Dogs train with troops for weeks for such missions, said the head of the US War Dogs Association, per NPR. They sometimes parachute from planes or swim to shore from a submarine. When they return from duty, he said, they sometimes have suffered physical and psychological injuries. Milley said the dog used in Syria is recovering after being slightly wounded. (The military said it disposed of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's remains.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X