The Indian Army is ready for its first counter-terrorism warfare course and has thrown open its doors to officers from ‘‘strategically important’’ countries. Officers from Tajakistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazhakstan will join the candidates from the Royal Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lankan armies for the first counter-terrorist course that is slated to begin this August at the Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School, Mizoram. They will learn the art of urban counter-terrorist warfare and will undergo capsules on countering cyber-terrorism.The school’s Faculty of Studies is busy mapping the global terror network and preparing case studies on groups such as the Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Al Qaeda network. While the first practice course was held in July last year, the formal inaugural course will begin later this year. The idea to induct foreign candidates into the course was taken after defence attaches visited the school in October last year. ‘‘They were so impressed with our facilities that they requested us to help them and the government agreed immediately, said Brig B.K. Ponwar, commandant of the school. The course will cater to 10 candidates from the Royal Bhutanese Army which recently participated in a massive operation to flush out anti-Indian insurgents from the Himalayan Kingdom. India will also train 180 candidates from Sri Lanka, 10 from Nepal, 12 from USA, two from Tajakistan and one each from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. While the present jungle warfare and counter-insurgency courses concentrate on imparting survival skills of the troops in jungle terrain, the counter-terrorist course is built around conducting operations in an urban scenario.
