Martyred IAF commandos were part of first batch of 'Garud' personnel to be attached to Army

NEW DELHI: The two IAF commandos, who laid down their lives in the gunfight during a cordon-and-search operation at Hajin village (Bandipora) in Kashmir early on Wednesday morning, were part of the first batch of Garud personnel to be attached to the Army for counter-terrorism training after the attack on the Pathankot airbase in January 2016.

Sergeant Khairnar Milind Kishor (33) and Corporal Nilesh Kumar Nayan (31) were among the 28 Garud commandos, including two officers, who had first undertaken a two-week pre-induction training in August. "They were now undergoing the five-and-a-half months of 'live situational training' with the Rashtriya Rifles, which is the Army's specialized counter-terrorism force in J&K," said an officer.

The Garud Commando Force, tasked with protection of critical assets like airbases, fighters and transport aircraft, radars and missiles as well as special operations, was set up in 2004 after terror attacks on two major airbases in J&K. The Army and Navy, of course, have had their Para-Special Forces and Marcos (marine commandos) for long.

As earlier reported by TOI, inquiries into the terror attack on the Pathankot airbase had pinpointed several command and control failures as well as security lapses. It took security forces, including the National Security Guard commandos, almost three days to kill the four heavily-armed terrorists while they lost seven of their own personnel.

The security lapses ranged from failure to follow basic standard operating procedures and plug "vulnerable perimeter gaps" to inadequate flood-lighting and the inability of the IAF Guard commandos to initially pin down and isolate the attackers, who had gained entry into the airbase by using branches of trees adjacent to the outer main wall.

The terrorists, fortunately, could not manage to penetrate the critical "technical area" of the airbase, where the fighters, missile units and radars were located, and were eventually neutralized in the "domestic area" by the NSG commandos.

All this had led to the decision for the Garud commandos to undergo "battle-inoculation" and "live situational training" with the Rashtriya Rifles. The IAF is also in the process of raising 12 additional "flights" of Garuds to supplement the existing 15 "flights" of around 1,000 commandos.