London, England—A former SBS military working dog will receive the PSDA Dickin Medal, the Victoria Cross equivalent for animals.

Mali, a Belgian Malinois, aged eight and now attached to the Royal Army Veterinary Corps (RACV), will be the 69th recipient of the medal.

He’s been awarded the medal for his actions on 15 April 2012, when a Taliban force had stormed the international section of Kabul.

That day, the Taliban had simultaneously struck in Kabul and in three other Afghan provinces.  Suicide bombers stormed a building near the European embassies.  Meanwhile, other insurgents with heavy machine-guns and RPGs had occupied two structures near the Afghan parliament.