The Defence Department of the United States has dispelled the impression that the US troops abandoned their dogs at Kabul airport before their evacuation.
“To correct erroneous reports, the US military did not leave any dogs in cages at Hamid Karzai International Airport, including the reported military working dogs,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby posted on social media.
He clarified that photos circulating online showed dogs in an animal shelter and not those being used by the military.
The animal rights group PETA earlier quoted “inside sources” as saying that 60 bomb-sniffing dogs and 60 other “working dogs” were left behind “suffering in the heat without adequate access to food or water.”
US issues new licence to continue flow of aid in Afghanistan
The US government has issued a licence authorising it and its partners to continue to facilitate humanitarian aid in Afghanistan, a Treasury Department official has told the Reuters news agency, after the Taliban, which is blacklisted by Washington, seized control of the country this month.
The specific licence, issued by the Treasury Department last Wednesday, authorises the US government and its contractors to support humanitarian assistance to people in Afghanistan, including the delivery of food and medicine, despite US sanctions on the Taliban.
