Zoom, Army's assault dog injured in Anantnag encounter, dies

Zoom, Indian Army's assault dog who underwent surgery after getting injured in an encounter with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag, passed away on Thursday.

Zoom was under treatment at Srinagar's Advance Field Veterinary Hospital since Monday after he took two bullets while pursuing two heavily armed Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists hiding in a house at Tangpawas in Anantnag district.

"Zoom's condition was improving and the canine was responding well to the treatment. The dog looked fine till around noon after which it suddenly started gasping and soon collapsed," an Army official told PTI.


During the Anantnag operation, the canine soldier identified and attacked the terrorists but received two gunshots and was critically injured.

Even after getting hit, Zoom kept on fighting them and this resulted in the killing of the two terrorists.

Zoom was two years and one month old Malinois or Belgian shepherd breed who was active in the service for the last eight months.

Zoom, was part of many active operations in south Kashmir. Army officials described him as a "highly trained, ferocious, and committed canine" who was trained to locate and bring down terrorists.

This encounter happened when security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Tangpawa area of Anantnag district after receiving specific input about the presence of terrorists.

Two Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists were killed in the encounter, while two soldiers received injuries.