1. Marcos: It is formed in 1985 as one of the special forces of Indian Navy. Previously, it is named as Marine Commando Force (MCF). The purpose of Marcos is to conduct operation at the time of War, Terrorist attacks, Hostage rescue, Search rescue and Direct action as well. The officers of Macros are specially trained group, equipped with all the modern weapons such as Israeli Tavor TAR-21, Heckler & Koch MP5 sub machine gun, the SIG Sauer P226 and Glock 17 pistols and much more in order to conduct special operations in water. Not only in water, they are also capable of performing operations under any type of conditions. Since the date of their formation, Marcos is involved in number of operations and is listed below.
Operation Pawan: It took place in 1987 where Marcos played a major part in capturing harbours of Jaffna and Trincomalee, Sri Lanka.
Operation Tasha: It took place in 1991. It is primarily a costal security operation on TamilNadu to counter LTTE attack.
2. National Security Guard (NSG): It is formed in 1984 as Indian Special Force Unit and comes under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Home Affairs. The NSG commandos are also named as Black Cats because of their black dress. It’s headquarter is located in New Delhi. Director General (DG) is the head of the NSG which is appointed by Home Minister. Its role is to counter various terrorist activities taking place in different parts of the country. NSC commandos are specialized for countering hijacking, bombing and rescue operation. NSG is involved in number of operations some of them are listed below.
Operation 26/11 Mumbai Attacks: It is one of the most terrifying attacks in India and the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is responsible for it. NSG commandos along with various security agencies and Mumbai police played a major role in countering this terrorist attack. It is said that 10 terrorist entered through water route to Mumbai and started firing and bombing across Mumbai for about four days. They attacked Hotel Taj, Nariman House, Chhatrapati Terminus, Leopold Cafe and Hotel Oberoi. Out of these 10 terrorists 9 were killed by security forces and Ajmal Kasab the 10th terrorist was arrested who hanged to death on Pune 2012.
3. Ghatak Force: It is also known as Ghatak Platoon or Commandos, a unit of India army. The role of Ghatak Force is to carry out Special operations. They also act as shock troops at the time of war and attack ahead of their battalion. One can also compare the role of Ghatak force to Scout Sniper Platoon and STA platoon. The Ghatak Force or Platoons are the team of 20 strong men consists of Captain, 2 officers, gunners, radio operator, marksman and spotter.
Myanmar Operation: A joint operation performed in 2006 by India and Myanmar to flush out NSCN (K) militants. The Ghatak forces of Indian army have played a major part in striking and killing numbers of Rebels.
4. GCF: The full form of GCF is Guard Commando Force, a unit of Indian Air Force formed in the year 2004. It is the youngest special force raised with number of military capabilities. These GCF commandos play a major part in Search and Rescue, Counter Terror threats in airports, Insurgency Operations and much more. The role of GCF is diverse and specific to Air force and to handle situations like terrorist attacks, hijacks and various natural calamities.
Operation Awantipur AFS: It took place in October 2001 at Air Force Base in Awantipur, where GCF commands played a major part in countering terrorist attack which results in the failure of the attack.
5. Special Frontier force: It is a paramilitary special force of India which comes under the supervision of RAW, an India’s external intelligence agency. It was created on 14th November 1962 after Sino India War. Its Headquarter is in Chakrata, Uttarakhand. The role of Special frontier force is to counter terrorism, hostage rescue, direct action, war and covert operations. SFF is involved in number of operations and some of them are listed below.
Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971: SFF was extremely successful against Pakistan during Indo-Pakistan Conflict took place in 1971.
6. ATS: The full form of ATS is Anti Terrorist Squad. ATS is a special police force present in several states of India which includes Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan & Bihar. ATS is involved in countering number of terrorist activities in India. It plays in major role in Internal Intelligence, rescue and most important countering terrorist activities. In Maharashtra it was started in 1990 headed by the Additional Commissioner of Police Aftab Ahmed Khan. It is also involved in number of operations and are listed below.
Shootout at Lokhandwala: It took place on November 16, 1991. The team lead by AA Khan killed 7 gangsters in a shootout which lasted for 4 hours.
26/11 Mumbai attacks: ATS played a major part in rescuing number of hostages from Hotel Taj, The Oberoi and Trident and Nariman Point Hotels which consists of Foreign and Indian tourists. In this operation, former ATS Chief Hemant Karkare and two other officers lost their lives while fighting terrorist in Mumbai.
7. COBRA: The full form of COBRA is Commando Battalion for Resolute Action, a unit of CRPF Central Armed Police Forces formed in 12th September 2008. They are trained in order to track, kill and destroy Naxalite groups. In India, there are about 10 COBRA units working in order to overcome Naxalite Challenge in India. These units are involved in various operations and are listed below.
On 17th September 2009 CRPF killed about 30 – 40 Maoists in Dantewada district
On 9th January 2010, CRPF killed 04 Maoists and recovered number of weapons which include 04 Cartridges, 02 Tiffin Bomb, Country made bomb in Dantewada district.
8. Force One: It is an elite commando force specialized to counter terror attack in Mumbai. It is formed by the Government of Maharashtra on November 26 2010. The Force One Special force is formed after 26/ 11 Mumbai attacks in order to counter any such terrorist attack in any part of India.
Sources: Wikipedia, Indian Express, India Today, Bharat Rakshak, MHA.
