Three sniffer dogs — Maya, Ruby, Bobby — who had served the Indo-Tibetan Border Police commandos for three years in Afghanistan have returned to India.

The K-9 sniffer dog squad was deployed at the Indian embassy in Kabul with 150 paramilitary personnel. After the Taliban seized the country, they were airlifted along with the ITBP personnel, 30 diplomats and civilians from Kabul as India evacuated its embassy staff on Tuesday.

The three dogs were brought to Delhi on Wednesday from Jamnagar where the Indian Air Force plane had first landed.

Sources in the ITBP said the sniffer dogs had served the paramilitary force at the Indian embassy in Kabul for three years and had a challenging task in ensuring the safety and security of the staff.

“The canines were trained at the National Training Centre for Dogs and were deployed in Kabul in 2019,” said an ITBP official.

The dogs, the official said, had detected several IEDs during their service in Kabul.