Naxal-Like Operation in J&K? CRPF’s Elite CoBRA Unit Deployed for First Time in Kashmir – News18
The development comes even as the operation to flush out terrorists holed up in the Gadole forest area of J&K’s Anantnag district entered the sixth day on Monday. (PTI)
Sources said the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) units have been stationed in Kashmir’s Kupwara after being brought for training in April
The Central Reserve Police Force’s elite CoBRA unit has been deployed in J&K for the first time, sources told News18 on Monday, indicating that security missions similar to the anti-Naxal operations in Left-Wing Extremist areas could be carried out in the Valley.
Sources said the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) units, previously stationed in Bihar and Jharkhand, were stationed in Kashmir’s Kupwara after being brought for training in April. They, however, weren’t given any assignments yet. “But now, they are ready for deployment,” a source said.
The Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) is a specialised guerilla warfare commando unit of the CRPF, with extensive expertise in fighting in forests.
The majority of CoBRA teams, whose commandos are expected to have tough mental and physical attributes, are deployed in various Naxal violence-affected states while a few are based in the northeastern states for undertaking counter-insurgency operations.
The CRPF, with a strength of about 3.25 lakh personnel, is designated as the lead internal security combat unit with its maximum deployment in three major theatres of Jammu and Kashmir, Left Wing Extremism-affected states and insurgency-hit areas on India’s northeast.
The development comes even as the operation to flush out terrorists holed up in the Gadole forest area of J&K’s Anantnag district entered the sixth day on Monday.
Security forces are using drones and helicopters for surveillance of the dense forest area with several cave-like hideouts where terrorists are believed to be holed up since Wednesday after killing two Army officers and a deputy superintendent of police in the initial exchange of fire, the officials said.
The security cordon has been extended to the neighbouring Posh Kreeri area on Sunday as a precautionary measure to ensure that terrorists don’t slip into civilian areas, they said.
Top officials of the security grid in Kashmir, including the director general of police GP and General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Army’s 15 Corps, have been monitoring the operation.
