The Jammu and Kashmir police has trained a fresh batch of 200 special commandos to take on suicide attackers.
According to a report in Times of India, the J&K police trained these commandos after a quantum jump in terror attacks against security forces and official installations in the Kashmir Valley.
These commandos received vigorous training under experts of various agencies and former police officers at the Commando Training Centre (CTC) Lethpora in south Kashmir's Pulwama district.
The 200 commandos were formally pressed into service on December 14 and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti herself was present during their passing out parade.
“The commandos are part of Anti-Fidayeen Squad of J&K Police. They used to conduct anti-terror operations under the brand name Special Operations Group (SOG)," SSP Mehmood Chaudhary, principal of CTC Lethpora, was quoted as saying by TOI.
Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed a surge in suicide since 2013. From 1999 to 2002, fidayeen attacks were common in the state. However, from 2006 to 2013, fidayeen attacks were rare.
"After their defeat in the 1999 Kargil war, the Pakistan Army and the ISI changed their strategy to inflict maximum casualties on Indian security forces with minimum resources," TOI quoted a police officer as saying.
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