A military dog seized by the Taliban and shown in a video does not belong to the United States but to an ally, the U.S. Defense Department said Thursday.
The Taliban posted a video of the dog, which was in a complex harness, and said the
“U.S. dog” was taken during a nighttime raid in December, CNN reported.
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Cmdr. Bill Speaks said the dog doesn’t belong to the U.S. military and is instead part of another country’s forces in NATO’s International Security Assistance Force.
"I can confirm that ISAF did confirm that a coalition working dog went missing after an operation in December. However, this is not a U.S. military working dog," Speaks said, according to CNN.
A source
told NBC News the dog belongs to a British unit. Britain is still looking into the matter.
The Washington Times said the video posted by the Taliban claims the dog is significant to the U.S. military.
“The mujahideen valorously put tough resistance against the troops for hours,” Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban fighter, told the Times on Thursday. He added that the dog had electronic devices on him and was a colonel.
Dogs are given ranks superior to that of their handlers, a reminder to treat them with respect.
The video of the dog was studied by SITE Intelligence Group, which specializes in studies of propaganda. Founder Rita Katz said she couldn’t recall ever seeing a dog used as a hostage before.
The video appeared on the Twitter account of a man known to post Taliban messages.
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