Six South African commandos were having dinner at a restaurant when terrorists struck Taj Mahal Hotel on Wednesday night. They handled the situation with aplomb, saving scores of persons from possible threat.The lives of 150 fellow guests were saved by the commandos through their presence of mind and skills to handle pressure situations.
This is the Indian Air Force's own commando force, raised to protect its vital installations and for counter terrorist operations.
Amid heightened threat perceptions, the Indian Railways have decided large-scale commando training for their Railway Protection Force personnel apart from standardising and upgrading zonal RPF training centres and installing 'integrated security system' in the four metro cities.
'We made a mistake. We misunderstood. Now all is well.'
For the first time in its three decade-old history, the country's elite counter-terror force National Security Guard has begun training its commandos in undertaking precision hostage rescue missions in jungles keeping in view emerging Naxalite tactics aimed at capturing high-value targets.
Want to know what's happening in the world of glitz and glamour? Here's the latest on supermodels, style and everything in-between.
The encounter broke out after the terrorists opened fire at the search party personnel, who retaliated, the officials said.
Security forces on Tuesday morning gunned down two terrorists holed up in a forest area near a village in the Akhnoor sector in Jammu and Kashmir, taking the number of militants killed in the 27-hour-long gunfight near the Line of Control (LoC) to three, officials said.
The incident took place on Wednesday night in Tarrem area when a joint team of security personnel was returning after an anti-Maoist operation in forests on the tri-junction of Bijapur-Sukma-Dantewada districts, a police official said in Bijapur.
All borders of the national capital will be sealed for the entry of commercial and heavy vehicles by Thursday midnight apart from heavy police deployment, they said.
In a setback to operational preparedness of National Security Guard commandos based in Mumbai, the counter-terror unit has been forced to abandon its newly built concrete premises as cracks were found in the structure, rendering it unsafe for use.
The Indian Navy rescued the hijacked Iranian fishing vessel 'Al-Kambar 786' and its crew after more than 12 hours of intense coercive tactical measures as part of an anti-piracy operation on March 29.
Pakistani intelligence agencies have taken into custody a former naval commando, who was court-martialled earlier, and two other persons for their alleged involvement in a terrorist attack on a naval airbase in Karachi that killed 10 security personnel.
A National Security Guard commando died of exhaustion during a rigorous exercise at the elite force's garrison in Manesar. AJunior Commissioned Officer, 34-year-old Ratan Lal had recently joined the NSG on deputation from the 6 PARA (Special Forces) of the Army, and was undertaking a battle induction exercise when he collapsed on the training ground.
The government has sent a special unit of trained commandos to Pakistan to protect top diplomats of the Indian Embassy there. The batch of 16 personnel, trained in commando skills and unarmed combat from the Central Industrial Security Force, was sent to the neighbouring country in February. "They will perform VIP security duties after assessing the situation there," CISF Director General N R Das told reporters on the sidelines of the force's 40th raising day.
They had been air-dropped in areas held by Al Qaeda militants in the south Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
Squadron Leader Kanwal Deep Mehra's daredevilry during the 1971 War brought down a Pakistani F-86 Sabre. But he had to bail out of his plane, was badly injured. Then a fierce band of armed guerillas evacuated him to safety at great risk to their lives.
Algerian commandos are pursuing Islamic militants who are believed to be still holding a number of foreign hostages at a remote gas facility in Algeria. "The operation is still going on," British Prime Minister David Cameron said, 36 hours after Algerian special forces stormed the complex, in which Algerian authorities said four foreign workers and 18 militants have been killed.
Security forces and terrorists exchanged fire twice briefly within a span of four hours in a forest area in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district, officials said on Wednesday.
A squad of about 300 special Central Industrial Security Force commandos has taken over the security of a large Tata Steel manufacturing facility in coastal Odisha, making it the 7th private sector concern in the country to get armed cover by the paramilitary force to ward off terror threats.
The thrills are never quite there, writes Raja Sen.
The Kolkata-based actors, several of whom have worked with Shanto Khan in Bangladeshi film projects, however, did not want to comment on the reasons for the killing, saying those were internal matters of another country.
The athlete from Nagaland became the first Paralympics medallist from northeast India. He had also won a bronze medal at the Hangzhou Para Asian Games last year.
A jawan of 6th India Reserve Battalion, who deserted the force's camp with a service gun, was shot dead after he was confronted by police commandos in Imphal East district of Manipur on Saturday, police sources said.
Five IAF personnel were injured in the attack on Saturday evening near Shahsitar and one of them later succumbed to injuries at a military hospital.
Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters carrying combat commandos armed with snipers and assault rifles are likely to be roped in to keep a hawk-eye vigil over Delhi during the next year's Commonwealth Games. The Home Ministry has approached the Defence Ministry to provide at least seven to eight helicopters for surveillance of the Delhi sky during the fortnight-long sporting event.
The National Security Guard crack commando strength has been almost doubled to 460 personnel each stationed at select hubs in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad to undertake quick and swift counter-terror or counter-hijack operations.
The family members of Garud Commando Gursewak Singh were in a state of shock on receiving the news about his martyrdom in Pathankot terror attack even as his father expressed pride that he laid down his life for the country.
Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime chief Monirul Islam said they got information that Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh chief Musa along with some other JMB terrorists are in Sylhet.
Captain M V Pranjal of the Rashtriya Rifles, Captain Shubham Gupta of 9 Para, Havildar Abdul Majid of the Rashtriya Rifles, Lance Naik Sanjay Bisht of the Rashtriya Rifles and Commando Sachin Laur of 9 Para made the Supreme Sacrifice for the Motherland in Wednesday's Rajouri encounter.
Chaos caused after Narayan Sakaar Hari's followers were pushed by the godman's security and a 'slippery slope' resulted in the stampede that killed 121 people in Hathras on Tuesday, a preliminary report by the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) said.
The 'black cats' will reflect a dashing sheen to the parade as they will be dressed in their trademark black coloured overalls, balaclava headgear and special assault rifles MP-5 along with the iconic commando dagger.
The Indian Navy's Marine Commandos have taken charge of the security of Dal Lake and the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre, which will host the G20 meeting, on the banks of the Dal Lake.
"Commando training should be imparted to all three wings of ATS by November," Mayawati said during a review meeting with top bureaucrats and police officers held in Lucknow on Wednesday evening. The CM also directed the Director General of Police for immediate improvement in crime investigation by ensuring necessary arrangements are being made to use forensic lab and other methods of scientific investigation.
'It is in the interest of China and Pakistan to give a bad name to the Indian Army and remove AFSPA 'completely' from the north east.' 'Hopefully, better sense will prevail and the ground realities of the army countering insurgency in the north east acknowledged,' asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Haim Weingarten, the head of a seven-man team of Israel Police's victim identification unit (ZAKA), which is in Mumbai, told the Jerusalem Post: 'Based on what I saw, although I cannot identify the type of bullets in the bodies of the victims, I don't think the terrorists killed all the hostages, to put it gently.'
An ATS official and an NSG commando who came outside the Taj Mahal hotel for a breather told rediff.com that it is a do or die situation inside the hotel. "We have been firing, searching and retreating for a while as the terrorists go back into hiding," they said. "We have no option but to either kill them or capture them. The manner in which the terrorists are holding fort and retaliating, makes it clear that they are here only for destruction and nothing else."
NSG commandos and ordinary folk visited the International Police Expo 2023 and India Homeland Security Expo at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi.
The deployment of Indian securitymen in the Middle Eastern country comes at a time when the government has ordered "maximum security" for Indian Missions and other assets in Afghanistan in the wake of a heightened threat from Taliban and other Pakistan-based terror groups which could carry out a wave of attacks, including car bomb blasts.
The raids were conducted following reports of infiltration of armed militants, official sources said.
