India has several Special Forces (SF) units, with the various branches of the Indian Armed Forces having their own separate special forces units. The Para SF of the Indian Army, MARCOS of the Indian Navy and the Garud Commando Force of the Indian Air Force. There are other special forces which are not controlled by the military, but operate under civilian organisations, such as the National Security Guard under the Home Ministry and the Special Group under the Research and Analysis Wing, the external intelligence agency of India. Small groups from the military SF units are deputed in the Armed Forces Special Operations Division, a unified command and control structure.
The National Security Guard (NSG), commonly known as Black Cats, is a counter-terrorism unit of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It was founded on 16 October 1984, following Operation Blue Star against Sikh militants, to combat terrorist activities and protect states against internal disturbances. Formalised in the Parliament of India under the National Security Guard Act, 1986. NSG are recruited from both Indian Army and Central Armed Police Forces, it is not strictly classified as a traditional paramilitary force. It operates as a specialized federal contingency unit.
On 24 September 2002, multiple Pakistani terrorists attacked the Akshardham Temple Complex in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India, killing 33 and injuring more than 80. India's National Security Guard intervened and ended the siege the next day, killing the terrorists. Six people were later arrested by Gujarat Police but acquitted in 2014 by the Supreme Court.
Surjan Singh Bhandari was a commando of the elite National Security Guards of the Indian armed forces. Bhandari hailed from Gochar, North Indian state of Uttarakhand. Bhandari was critically wounded during the operation to flush out the terrorists from the Akshardham temple complex on September 24, 2002.
Indian Airlines Flight 427, a domestic passenger flight of the Indian Airlines between Srinagar Airport and the Delhi-Indira Gandhi International Airport, was involved in an aircraft hijacking that took place in India between 24 and 25 April 1993. Commandos from the National Security Guard (NSG) rescued all 141 hostages of the Indian Airlines Boeing 737, on the ground at Amritsar airport. The lone hijacker, Mohammad Yousuf, was killed within 5 minutes of commandos entering the plane, before he could react and harm any of the hostages. The rescue was code-named Operation Ashwamedh.
Parachute Regiment (Special Forces), informally referred to as Para-Commandos, is a group of special forces battalions of the Parachute Regiment in the Indian Army. These units specialise in various roles including counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, direct action, hostage rescue, special reconnaissance and unconventional warfare.
The Garud Commando Force is the special forces unit of the Indian Air Force. It was formed in February 2004 and has a current strength of over 1500 personnel. The unit derives its name from Garuda, a Hindu deity.
The No. 3 Squadron IAF (Cobras) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) operates as a Close Air Support (CAS) and reconnaissance unit. Currently based at NAL Air Force Station, it falls under the Western Air Command, and forms the 46 wing of the IAF.
The 2008 Mumbai attacks were a series of terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant Islamist organisation from Pakistan, carried out 12 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks lasting four days across Mumbai. The attacks, which drew widespread global condemnation, began on Wednesday 26 November and lasted until Saturday 29 November 2008. A total of 175 people died, including nine of the attackers, with more than 300 injured.
Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, AC was an Indian Army officer, who was serving in the 51 Special Action Group of the National Security Guard on deputation. He was killed during the November 2008 Mumbai attacks and was posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra, India's highest peacetime gallantry award, on 26 January 2009.
Gajender Singh Bisht was an NSG commando and Havildar (Sergeant) who was killed during the 2008 Mumbai attacks. His act of bravery was honored with the Ashoka Chakra award by the President of India on India's 60th Republic Day on 26 January 2009.
On 27 July 2015, three gunmen dressed in army uniforms opened fire on a bus and then attacked the Dina Nagar police station in Gurdaspur district of Punjab, India. The attack resulted in the death of three civilians and four policemen, including a superintendent of police; fifteen others were injured. In addition, five bombs were found planted on the Amritsar–Pathankot line on a rail-bridge near Parmanand railway station, five kilometers from the site of the attack. All three attackers were killed in the operation, which lasted almost 12 hours.
Adampur Airport, is a domestic airport and an Indian Air Force base serving the cities of Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur in Punjab, India. It is located 6.7 km (4.2 mi) from Adampur town in Jalandhar district, 28 km (17 mi) from Jalandhar and 27 km (17 mi) from Hoshiarpur. It just beside NH-3. As it lies just between the cities of Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur, it serves both the cities. The airport was required by the Doaba region of Punjab for facilitating commercial operations, as the other two main airports of the state at Amritsar and Chandigarh are 100 and 145 km distant, respectively.
On January 2 2016, 4 militants belonging to Islamic terrorist United Jihad Council attacked the Indian Air Force's Pathankot Airbase, part of its Western Air Command.
There have been several attacks on Indian Armed Forces by militants in 2016.
In the Indian Armed Forces women are allowed to join mainly in combat service support branches and in non combatant roles. The Indian Air Force had 13.09% female officers in 2018 and 8.50% female officers in 2014; the Indian Navy had 6% female officers in 2018 and 3% female officers in 2014 and the Indian Army had 3.80% female officers in 2018 and 3% female officers in 2014. In 2020, three officers had the rank of lieutenant-general or equivalent, all in the Medical Services. In May 2021, 83 women were inducted as sepoys for the first time in the Indian Army's Corps of Military Police. On 30 March 2023, 273 women were inducted in the Indian Navy as sailos for the first time in the history of the Indian Navy, total 2,585 agniveers passed out after successful completion of training from INS Chilka. The Indian Air Force got airwomen for the first time in its history on 7 March 2024 as 153 female agniveers passed out from the Airmen Training School, Belagavi with 2,127 male agniveers.
The Armed Forces Special Operations Division (AFSOD) is an integrated tri-services division of the Indian Armed Forces. The division is tasked to carry out special operations. The AFSOD draws personnel from all three special warfare branches of the Indian Armed Forces.
Indian Armed Forces in Jammu and Kashmir encompass the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force, tri-service units such as the Armed Forces Special Operations Division (AFSOD), and paramilitary organisations of the Central Armed Police Forces such as the Border Security Force, the Central Reserve Police Force, the Sashastra Seema Bal and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. Each three wings of India's military have their special forces deployed in the region including Indian Army's Para SF, the Indian Navy MARCOS and the Indian Air Force's Garud Commando Force. Apart from this, there is the elite police anti-insurgency force in the region, the Special Operations Group, of the Jammu and Kashmir Police.
Major General Dalvir Singh AVSM, VrC, VSM is a retired Indian Special Forces officer, a former General Officer of the Indian Army and the recipient of Vir Chakra, India's third-highest War-time gallantry award. He has commanded the 10th Battalion Special Forces, the elite 52 Special Action Group of the NSG, Kilo Force of the Rashtriya Rifles and the Territorial Army (India), with distinction. After retirement from active military service, he has been serving as the Director Training of Rajasthan Police Training Center Jodhpur.
Subedar Suresh Chand Yadav, AC, was a Junior commissioned officer of the Indian Army's Mahar Regiment who was killed in the line of duty during the Akshardham Temple attack while on deputation to the 51 Special Action Group of the National Security Guard (NSG), India's federal counterterrorism force. He was posthumously awarded India's highest peacetime military decoration, the Ashoka Chakra, for his gallant action during the NSG's response to the attack.
