Special forces of all the three branches of the military will jointly fight terror in Jammu and Kashmir
In a major step, the special forces of the Army, Navy and Air Force have been deployed in Kashmir valley to carry out combined counter-terrorist operations. The three special forces, namely the Army's Para (Special Forces), Navy's Marine Commandos (MARCOS) and Indian Air Force's Garuds are being deployed in Kashmir valley under the Defence Ministry's newly-raised Armed Forces Special Operations Division (AFSOD), senior defence sources told ANI.
The induction of the joint special troops of the three forces has already started as the Army Para (SF) elements have already been inducted into an area considered to be a traditional terror hotbed near Srinagar, they said.
The elements of the MARCOS and the Garuds would also be getting fully inducted into the anti-terrorist operations very soon, they said.
Although small teams of Navy's MARCOS and the IAF's Garuds have been operating in Kashmir valley, this is the first time when the three services would be deployed jointly there.
The MARCOS are deployed in and around Wular lake area while the Garud teams have been operating in Lolab area and Hajin.
The Air Force Special Forces had a very successful stint in Kashmir valley as they managed to eliminate six terrorists in one go in Operation Rakh Hajin for which its Corporal JP Nirala was also awarded the Ashok Chakra posthumously.
The aim of joint Special Forces deployment in Kashmir valley is to give the troops exposure of operating jointly in real operations. The AFSPD has already carried out two exercises in different locations practising assault on strategic enemy positions and taking back captured areas.
The first exercise of the AFSOD was in the Kutch region while the second was in Andaman and Nicobar Islands codenamed.
The first head of the Armed Forces Special Operations Division (AFSOD) is Major General Ashok Dhingra.
The division has performed well since it came into existence.