Army begins training of regular troops to deal with terror

28 June : Preparing to deal with Mumbai attacks-like terror siege, Army has started training its units deployed at various places considered as potential terrorist targets."We must have troops who are well trained and equipped to carry out hostage rescue operations in situations such as the Mumbai crisis," Army sources told the news agency.

The Army has assigned its Special Force (SF) units based across the country to train the personnel from regular infantry units for the purpose.

"We realised that our units deployed in the peace locations should also be trained in urban warfare which is different from what we face in Jammu and Kashmir and the north-eastern states".

"Our SF troops have had a long history of dealing with extreme situations in the insurgency-affected areas of J and K and the north-east. Therefore, they have been assigned to train and prepare troops from regular infantry units for these tasks," they said.

Most of the personnel undergoing training with the SF units are deployed in cities having sizable population and attract both foreign and domestic tourists in large numbers.

"Army units based in cities like Goa, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Agra, Goa, Chandigarh, Gandhinagar, Surat, Vadodara, Jamnagar and various other places spread across the country are being trained to deal with hostage rescue operations as terrorists are most likely expected to strike at such places," the sources said.

These infantry units will also be equipped with modern electronic gadgets and weapons, mostly used by the SF and quick reaction teams to tackle terrorists.

These weapons are normally not available to them.

New courses have been designed by the SF units to train the infantry troops.

"Officers and men from the chosen units have started going to the SF units, which have designed special courses for them. It will help these troops increase their mental and physical endurance and skills to tackle such crises," the sources said.

At the moment, Army has six SF units which are based in locations such as Udhampur and Jodhpur.

"Officers and men from the infantry units will go back to their battalions and teach their own men the skills learned from SF units," they said.

The decision to set up these specialised teams within the infantry units was taken after an assessment of the lessons learned during the 26/11 operations.

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By :  News Team