This is the Indian Air Force's own commando force, raised to protect its vital installations and for counter terrorist 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.
The Indian Air Force conducted a day-and-night exercise on the Purvanchal Expressway in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, activating an emergency-landing facility with fighter jets, helicopters, and transport aircraft to demonstrate operational readiness and validate standard operating procedures.
On Thursday, December 22, 2022, the Garuds displayed what they are capable of during a drill at the Garud Regimental Training Centre in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh.
The award was received by Corporal Nirala's wife Sushmanand and his mother Malti Devi at the majestic Rajpath.
The Indian Air Force demonstrated its operational versatility by landing various military aircraft on an emergency airstrip on the Purvanchal Expressway in Uttar Pradesh.
Corporal Nirala, disregarding personal safety and displaying indomitable courage, retaliated with effective lethal fire and gunned down two category A terrorists and injured two others.
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An army soldier was also injured in the encounter.
This year, she plans to visit him in New Delhi for Raksha Bandhan.
The Indian Air Force on Thursday said it has deployed Garud Special Forces commandos and four choppers for anti-Naxal operations but withdrawn the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles operating in Maoist bastions in Chhattisgarh.
Glimpses of the Indian Air Force's 91st Air Force Day celebrations at the Bamrauli Air Force Station in Prayagraj, October 8, 2023.
A day after National Security Guard Lt Col Niranjan Kumar and Garud Commando Gursewak Singh were slain in the Pathankot air base attack, their remains were brought home for the last rites. Locals, family members and politicians gathered to pay their respects to these heroes.
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The encounter took place in Hajin area of north Kashmir's Bandipora district on Wednesday.
All armed forces including the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and Indian Coast Guard have made necessary preparation to provide assistance to the local people of Gujarat.
'Garud' mission commander Flight Lieutenant Jagvinder Singh, after acquiring all the necessary intelligence inputs, including those from satellite and Unmanned Aeriel Vehicle, worked out an operational plan, which included heliborne insertion and exfilteration of the force, and accomplished the mission using assault rifles as primary weapons, and pistols and combat knives as secondary weapons, supported by LMGs, navigation and communication equipment and All Terrain Vehicles.
Four more bodies were recovered by IAF commandos near Gaurikund in Uttarakhand where an IAF Mi-17 helicopter carrying 20 people had crashed during a rescue mission and all onboard are feared killed.
The officials said the aircrew used their electro-optical and infrared sensors to ensure that the runway was free of any obstruction and there were no inimical forces in the vicinity.
A 140-strong Indian contingent is participating with troops from the 25th Infantry Division of the US Pacific Command in Yudh Abhyas 06-02, the second training exercise of its type this year.
They were stranded on a concrete platform at the bottom of a pillar of an under-construction structure to create a lake at Baghwati Nagar, they said.
'The Pathankot episode shows that the security forces handled the attack well after the initial setback, although there is no denying that there are shortcomings in India's security grid that need urgent correction,' says national security expert Nitin Gokhale, founder, BharatShakti.in
The operation to fully sanitise the Pathankot base, which was attacked by six terrorists last Saturday, is in its final phase.
The daring action is in retaliation to the ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the LoC on Saturday.
Apart from 15 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 12 teams of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), personnel of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Indian Coast Guard and Border Security Force (BSF) are deployed for relief and rescue operations, officials said.
'Me and my boys had never ever thought in our wildest dreams that we would be taking part in a rescue mission of this kind.' IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe, a helicopter pilot himself, reports on how the air force rescued those trapped in the Deoghar cable cars disaster last fortnight.
Intermittent blasts and exchange of fire to neutralise two more terrorists continued on Sunday night at Air Force Station in Pathankot, Punjab where four terrorists were killed, seven security men lost their lives and 17 persons were injured in the over 40-hour-long operation.
Over a dozen IAF planes, including Mirage-2000 fighters and Sukhoi 30s, besides 35,000 kg C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, took part in the exercise.
The massive combing operation at the sprawling Air Force station in Pathankot ended on Friday, seven days after six terrorists struck.
The operation to fully sanitise the Pathankot Air base, which was attacked by six terrorists last Saturday, is "close to completion" with the personnel of the National Security Guard, the army and the Garud commandos of Indian Air Force undertaking the task on the sprawling complex.
'Imagine hanging from a thin steel cable under a helicopter with certain death staring at you below, being pulled up slowly in the din and downwash of the helicopter.' IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe, a helicopter pilot himself, reports on how the air force rescued those trapped in the Deoghar cable cars disaster last fortnight.
A spectacular aerial display showcasing the prowess and manoeuvrability of the Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft over the iconic Marina sky captivated the hearts of Chennaiites who turned up in thousands on a sultry Sunday and witnessed the IAF's range of new aircraft including Rafale, roar in action.
Several persons fainted and emergency workers carried them in stretches and provided care in shelters. Over 30 people were rushed to nearby government hospitals with symptoms of dehydration.
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The AN-32 aircraft went missing on June 3 after taking off from Assam's Jorhat. The aircraft was headed for Mechuka Advanced Landing Ground in Arunachal Pradesh when it lost contact with ground authorities around 1 pm.
They batted for better coordination between the Indian Air Force and the Army in guarding the air bases in case of exigencies like the one at Pathankot in Punjab.
The terrorists who had stormed the Pathankot air base were "well trained" and "strongly stocked" with arms and ammunitions to inflict heavy damage to the assets stationed there and that explains the long counter-terror operations going on against them, top government sources said.
Nitin Gokhale reports on how quick decisions saved a repeat of a Mumbai-like carnage at the key Punjab air force base.
'That the terrorists could still kill three security personnel, including men of the Defence Service Corps, indicates highly trained men are being sent across the border,' says national security expert Nitin A Gokhale, founder, BharatShakti.in
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