New Delhi: More than 1500 troops of friendly countries have trained at Mizoram-based Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School (CIJWS) in the last few years to benefit from Indian Army’s experience in handling militancy in Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast.
400 officers and 1162 troops from various countries such as the US, UK, Brazil have been trained by the CIJWS in the art of jungle and guerilla warfare, Army sources told PTI here.
In the recent past, countries like France, Singapore, Nepal, Bhutan, Russia and Bangladesh too had sent their contingents to train there, they said.
Due to its suitable terrain and different training ranges available for conducting mock drills for various aspects of jungle warfare, CIJWS is considered one of the best training centres in the world, sources said.
Some of the training ranges located there used to be the actual hideouts of various insurgent groups, which are now used for training purposes, they said.
With the motto of ‘Fight a Guerilla Like a Guerilla’, CIJWS was established in 1970 and is regarded as one of the best facilities in the world to train troops in jungle warfare and counter-insurgency.
Besides engaging the enemy, at CIJWS, soldiers are trained to detect Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in a forested area and several other aspects of jungle warfare like survival and interrogation techniques.
It also conducts mock operations where the troops are taught about jungle reflexive shooting and slithering techniques by using ropes to descend or climb and camouflaging. (PTI)