French officials have named a police dog which was killed during a major counter-terror operation in the northern Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis.
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Russian Federation is to send a police puppy to France following the death of Diesel, the dog killed in an anti-terror raid in Paris last week.
According to the Daily Mail Diesel was sent in to sniff out booby traps but was killed when the female suspect fired her AK-47 at police then detonated her suicide vest. Five French police officers sustained injuries but are expected to recover.
Witnesses reported ongoing gunfire starting at around 4:30 a.m. local time in Saint-Denis, not far from the Stade de France, one of the targets in Friday’s terrorist attacks. Instagram, Twitter and Facebook users quickly responded with photos of their pets accompanied by the hashtag #JeSuisDiesel, mourning the loss of the dog that died in the line of duty.
The siege targeted Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the alleged mastermind of the terrorist acts, previously thought to have been in Syria, as well as Salah Abdeslam and a potential ninth assailant.
The second victim was a man hit by projectiles and grenades at the end of the seven-hour raid.
Abdelhami Abaaoud, 27, was believed to be living in Syria but has been identified by police sources as the target of the overnight operation.
Now Alsatian puppy Dobrynya will replace Diesel as a gift and expression of Russia’s solidarity with France.
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Both take inspiration from a similar hashtag used in the wake of January’s attacks on the Charlie Hebdo offices – #JeSuisCharlie. “He truly can be called our best friend #RIPDiesel #JeSuisChien“.
