Col, Brig to be sent to MHA for anti-Naxal ops

Army will send Colonel or Brig-rank officers on deputation to MHA as advisers for anti-Maoist ops.

New Delhi: As government mulls ways to
fight Maoists more effectively, the Army will send Colonel or
Brigadier-rank officers on deputation to the Union Home
Ministry as advisers to carry out anti-Maoist operations.

"Earlier the Home Ministry had asked for Major Generals
but later they changed their proposal seeking Colonel or
Brigadier-rank officers with experience of commanding
formations in counter-insurgency operations to provide advice
in anti-Naxal operations. We have agreed to that", a source
said.

The number of officers to be sent to the Home Ministry
has not yet been decided.

Experience of battling terrorism and insurgency in Jammu
and Kashmir and the North East will help the officers to
advise the states to formulate more effective anti-Naxal
operations, the sources said.

Some of the Naxal-affected states have been requesting
the government to send senior Army officers with experience in
counter-insurgency operations, they added.

The Home Ministry is looking for an enhanced role of the
armed forces in anti-Naxal operations. The Defence Ministry is
hesitant to get involved in it although it is not averse to
providing some kind of logistical support.

The Home Ministry has sought the Army`s help in defusing
IEDs and demining the Naxal-hit territory.

It has also asked the IAF to provide helicopters for
quick deployment and evacuation of paramilitary forces during
anti-Naxal operations in inaccessible areas.

The proposal is currently before the Cabinet Committee
on Security which is yet to take a final view.

IAF has suggested to the Defence Ministry that its 15
helicopters deployed in the UN missions in African countries
may be called back to meet the shortage of choppers.

PTI

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