UK soldier, loyal dog make final journey together

[March 10, 2011]  LONDON (AP) -- The body of a British soldier shot dead in Afghanistan was being flown home Thursday -- alongside the loyal dog who died of a seizure after his handler was killed.

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 U.S.-led invasion. Theo was the sixth British military dog killed in Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001.

[Associated Press; By JILL LAWLESS]

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