Valiant ‘Mansi’ and handler awarded for fighting militancy

‘Mansi’, a four-year-old labrador and a member of Army’s tracker dog unit, has become possibly the first canine to have been selected for a posthumous war honour, after she and her handler Bashir Ahmed War laid down their lives to prevent an infiltration bid by terrorists in north Kashmir.

Mansi was on Sunday honoured with the ‘Mention of Despatches’ certificate. Her name will appear in the Gazette of India for making supreme sacrifice for the nation.

War, her handler and a resident of Kupwara, was also posthumously awarded the Sena Medal as he died fighting for the nation while challenging a group of infiltrating militants in Tangdhar, 150 kms from Srinagar. The duo had had a successful season last year with three kills to their credit.