Buster was unleashed in this southern border town after a raid launched by 200 troops from the Duke of Wellington's Regiment, the RAF Regiment and the Queen's Dragoon Guards.

Apart from a collection of AK47 assault rifles, grenades and ammunition, Buster also sniffed out a suspected stash of heroin and crack cocaine as well suitcases full of cash from five buildings.

"The soldiers had found nothing so I unleashed Buster and sent him in," said the hound's handler, Sergeant Danny Morgan of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps.

"Within minutes he became excited in a particular area and I knew he'd discovered something.

"The Iraqis we spoke to had denied having any weapons. But Buster found their arms even though they'd hidden them in a wall cavity, covered it with a sheet of tin then pushed a wardrobe in front of it."

Buster, who is thought to be the only explosives sniffer dog working with the Anglo-American coalition in Iraq, has been given his own protective gear in case of chemical attack.

When gas or missile attack warnings sound, he leaps into a special sealed pen equipped with an electric motor that pumps air through a gas mask filter.

"I trained him by teaching him to fetch weapons like guns and ammunition instead of sticks and balls," said Morgan, who keeps Buster as a family pet back home in Hampshire, England.

"He loves his job simply because he thinks it's a game and obviously has no idea he's going into dangerous situations."

Duke of Wellington's Regiment Corporal Ian Wilson said the British troops had been warned that the Iraqis could be heavily armed.

"We surrounded the buildings and crept up to the houses stealthily with our weapons at the ready but thankfully we caught most of the Iraqis in their beds," he said.

British forces in southern Iraq swapped their helmets for berets Tuesday in a bid to show the locals that life was returning to normal after capturing the territory from followers of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

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