Dogs deploy to hunt Kony
Nov 02, 2004
The Uganda People’s Defence Forces has now deployed sniffer dogs in the war against the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels
By Emmy Allio
The Uganda People’s Defence Forces has now deployed sniffer dogs in the war against the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, security sources said yesterday.
The dogs are deployed with infantry forces to locate the rebels hiding in the forests and tall elephant grass, the sources said.
“These dogs perform peculiar roles. They are doing a very good job because they help locate the rebels several metres away,†the source said. The dogs, worth millions of shillings, are handled by experts who have vehicles to transport them. Sources said a Kampala-based security firm supplied the dogs, which also received training from Police trainers and intelligence personnel.
Army spokesman Maj. Shaban Bantariza said, “We do not discuss in the media, the equipment we use in wars.â€
The expertise of Ugandan dogs came up in the media early this year when a security firm, Armor Group, said it was exporting sniffers to assist the US-led forces in Iraq to detect explosives.
A retired South African Police dog trainer said Uganda’s dogs were the best in Africa and that to train one dog cost US$15,000 (about sh25m). The German and Belgian bred dogs were also used to guard gold mines in DR Congo.
The Uganda People’s Defence Forces has now deployed sniffer dogs in the war against the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, security sources said yesterday.
The dogs are deployed with infantry forces to locate the rebels hiding in the forests and tall elephant grass, the sources said.
“These dogs perform peculiar roles. They are doing a very good job because they help locate the rebels several metres away,†the source said. The dogs, worth millions of shillings, are handled by experts who have vehicles to transport them. Sources said a Kampala-based security firm supplied the dogs, which also received training from Police trainers and intelligence personnel.
Army spokesman Maj. Shaban Bantariza said, “We do not discuss in the media, the equipment we use in wars.â€
The expertise of Ugandan dogs came up in the media early this year when a security firm, Armor Group, said it was exporting sniffers to assist the US-led forces in Iraq to detect explosives.
A retired South African Police dog trainer said Uganda’s dogs were the best in Africa and that to train one dog cost US$15,000 (about sh25m). The German and Belgian bred dogs were also used to guard gold mines in DR Congo.