Lance Cpl. Liam Tasker, a dog handler with the Royal Army
Veterinary Corps, was killed in a firefight with insurgents in Helmand Province
last week. Theo, his bomb-sniffing springer spaniel, suffered a fatal seizure
hours later at a British Army base.
The 26-year-old soldier and the dog had been in Afghanistan
for six months, uncovering roadside bombs. In February, the defense ministry
announced that Theo had been so successful — finding 14 hidden bombs — that his
tour of duty had been extended by a month.
Tasker’s squadron commander, Maj. Caroline Emmett, said the
soldier and Theo “were made for each other.” “He and his dog had more
operational finds than any individual team has had in Afghanistan to date and
he saved many lives as a result of this,” she said.
Tasker’s body was being flown back to an air force base in
England on Thursday, on a flight also carrying the ashes of Theo.
The cortege carrying Tasker is due to pass through the town
of Wootton Bassett, where local people line the streets in a mark of respect
each time a dead solder is repatriated.
The Ministry of Defense said Theo’s ashes would be presented
to Tasker’s family later at a private ceremony.
Tasker was the 358th British soldier to die in Afghanistan
since the 2001 US-led invasion. Theo was the sixth British military dog killed
in Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001.
