By Syed Zarir Hussain, IANS
Vairengte (Mizoram) : Sixty American marines will undergo 10 days of training in low-intensity guerrilla warfare from Indian anti-terror experts in the jungles of the northeastern state of Mizoram, military officials said Friday.
An Indian army commander said the training on unconventional warfare begins early September at the Counter Insurgency Jungle Warfare School (CIJWS) at Vairengte in Mizoram.
A group of elite Indian army commandos would also take part in the joint exercise.
“The training schedule involves a rigorous drill on how to tackle an unconventional war or low intensity conflict, besides simulated anti-insurgency operations for the American soldiers,” a senior army official told IANS on condition of anonymity.
The United States Marine Corps serves as an amphibious force-in-readiness and is known for having the toughest training out of any of the services offered by the US Armed Forces.
There was a similar exercise last year involving Indian and US soldiers at Vairengte.
The school at Vairengte is considered one of the world’s most prestigious anti-terrorist institutions with troops from several countries getting counter-insurgency training.
“The motto of the institute is to fight a guerrilla like a guerrilla,” a CIJWS commander said.
“The training module is non-conventional and once a soldier undergoes training here, he can face all deadly situations anywhere in the world.”
About 200 American soldiers have already undergone training at Vairengte in the last three years.
“The troops are taught to live in difficult and hostile terrain, eat and sleep like the guerrilla and strike as silently as the guerrilla. The exercise is aimed at honing special skills for soldiers who are exposed to terrorist attacks in recent years,” the commander said.
Spurred by the successes in combating militancy to a great extent, New Delhi opened the school at Vairengte in 2001 for foreign soldiers with three US Army officers being the first overseas batch to be trained.
But it was only after the Sep 11, 2001 terror strikes in the US that the jungle warfare school at Vairengte began attracting military cadets from across the world.
The training module includes among other things lectures, seminars, besides mock operations in Mizoram’s rugged jungles.
At present, the Vairengte School runs four counter-insurgency and jungle warfare courses open only to officers and soldiers below 28 years of age.
The school was set up in 1970 after Indian soldiers suffered heavy casualties at the hands of northeastern rebels who were adept at hit-and-run guerrilla strikes.