Rebels said they rescued the dog

A video shows a tiny puppy strapped with what looks to be a ‘suicide vest’.

The little dog appears to have been given explosives to wear, made using plastic bottles connected with wire and designed to detonate by remote control.

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But instead, rebels can be seen discussing the dog, saying they managed to defuse the weapon.

One of them holds it by the head and strokes its ears as another gestures to the bottles and claims it was intended to kill them.


Clearly frightened, the dog stands motionless as the fighters speak to the camera.

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The puppy was wearing a suicide vest

The PMU fighters, from a militia backed by the Iraqi government, say they successfully deactivated the bomb and that the dog will be sent to Baghdad Zoo ‘for a nice break from the war zone and well away from Isis fighters trying to blow animals up for their sick war.

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‘What was this animal’s crime? Even animals, ISIS booby traps them and send them out against us.’



As they are pushed back by forces including the Iraqi army, Kurds, Shia militias, America, the UK, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Syria (not all working together), Isis fighters have turned to new methods to retain the territory they control.

The rebels can be seen stroking it

The group is also using drones like those sold in shops, to drop bombs and grenades on forces trying to take back the Iraqi city of Mosul, as well as on civilians.

Some claimed the video cannot be trusted as it was released by rebel forces, but the sight of a dog caught up in the fighting and being used as a tool of war is a shocking sight in any case.

Isis fighters have previously posed with kittens in an attempt to soften their image and attract more foreign recruits.

A photo of an Isis fighter in Dabiq. the group’s propaganda magazine

Dogs in warfare Dogs have been used in conflict for thousands of years. In WWII, Soviet troops trained dogs to look for meat under tanks, so they would run towards them. When German tanks appeared, they strapped the dogs with explosives and the animals would run towards the tanks as they had been trained to do, blowing up themselves and the vehicle. (It was a not a particularly effective target as they would also run towards Russian tanks while wearing the bombs.) More than 4,000 dogs served in the Vietnam war too. Some were scout dogs who walked ahead, meaning they would be the first hit by hidden explosives or ambushes. Other dogs were trackers or guards for bases.