Pasukan Gerakan Khas
|
Pasukan Gerakan Khas |
|
|---|---|
| Lineup | October 20, 1997 |
| Country |
 Malaysia
|
| Armed forces | Malaysian police |
| Branch of service | Special forces |
| Type | Counterterrorism |
| Strength | approx ~ 4,000 |
| Insinuation | National Special Operations from Malaysia |
| Nickname | 69 Tindakhas Command Unit |
| Calls | Lahad Datu Standoff |
| commander | |
| commander | Senior Assistant Commissioner Dato 'Azizan Bin Abd. Aziz |
The Pasukan Gerakan Khas (PGK, Malaysian for unit for special operations ) is a special unit of the Malaysian police . The PGK in this form was founded on October 20, 1997, but it consists of two pre-existing special units that still operate separately from each other, namely the Tindakan Khas (UTK, unit for special measures ) and 69 Komando (VAT 69 ). The station is located in Bukit Aman on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur .
Unit Tindakan Khas (UTK)
The UTK was founded in 1975 after the left-wing terrorist group in August of members Japanese Red Army in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur took 50 people hostage, including the consul of the United States and the charge d'affaires of the Swedish Embassy, by the release of five arrested terrorists and then took a plane to Libya . Similar to the German police two years earlier during the hostage-taking in Munich , the Malaysian police at that time did not have a unit that was adequately trained or equipped for such an incident. For this reason, the Tindakan Khas Unit was founded with the aim of warding off hostage-taking and terrorist actions in urban areas and monitoring public events. The tasks of the UTK include counter-terrorism , hostage liberation and police access . The UTK has a similar task profile to the German special police forces or the US SWAT units. It consists of around 300 members.
The members of the UTK wear a wine red beret with the emblem of the Malaysian police. During parades it is also provided with a red plume. The association badge shows a white, winged Krisdolch on a red background as well as a banner with the motto of the PGK, Warisan Darah Perwira (German: "The legacy of the hero's blood ").
Recruitment and training
In order to become a member of the UTK, candidates, who are usually already experienced police officers from other areas, must first pass a two-week selection course in order to be accepted into the training program of the unit. After successfully completing this selection course, a twelve-week basic training begins. This is followed by specialized training in order to qualify the candidate for a certain role within the special unit, this takes another three to four weeks, but can also last up to three months if it is completed abroad. These specialized roles include sniper marksman , bodyguard , combat swimmer , supervisor, and parachutist . Women are also allowed to serve in the UTK.
Stakes and controversy
The UTK has crushed several criminal groups over the years. These included former soldiers of the Malaysian armed forces or the Singapore armed forces on several occasions .
Some of the missions received particularly intense coverage in the Malaysian press.
- The M16 gear was in the years from 2000 to 2002 several robberies a prey worth a total of about 21.28 million Malaysian ringgit gained (after exchange rate's then about 5.3 million euros). Led by Sunny Chai, a well-known bank robber, she was named after the Colt M16 assault rifles she used in her raids. On December 27, 2002, three members, including leader Sunny Chai, were caught by the UTK on their way to another raid and two of them were killed in the ensuing shooting. The third member initially escaped, but was tracked down again early the next day and also killed in another shooting. With the death of the leader, the gang was considered broken.
It is conspicuous that the UTK apparently often engages in deadly shootings with the criminal gangs it is trying to bring. A total of 635 people died in Malaysia between 1989 and 1999 as a result of police shooting ( 137 people in Germany during the same period ), and it is alleged that the UTK is said to be dead during its operations. Amnesty International suspects that the UTK has a policy of targeted killing against known felons . The unit itself denies this allegation and points out that it always tries to resolve its missions without firing a shot. However, the potential targets are often heavily armed and extremely violent criminals who cannot be arrested without resistance.
Altantuyaa murder case
On April 9, 2009, two members of the UTK, Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar, were found guilty of murder by a Malaysian court and sentenced to death by hanging . The court considered it proven that the two police officers shot and killed the Mongolian Shaariibuugiin Altantuyaa on the night of October 19-20, 2006 , and removed her body by detonating it with C4 explosives . Altantuyaa worked as a translator and was allegedly the mistress of the arms lobbyist Abdul Razak Baginda, a confidante of the then Malaysian Defense Minister and now Prime Minister Najib Razak . This sparked rumors that the two police officers did not act out of personal motives, but as contract killers . This was not proven in court, however, and Abdul Razak Baginda, who was also initially charged, was acquitted in October 2008. Sirul Azhar Umar, one of the two convicts, described himself as a scapegoat or a pawn sacrifice. During the trial, the UTK had to publicly reveal its training methods and command structures in court, criticizing the fact that the members of the unit had to obey orders from their superiors with absolute " cadaver obedience ", which made incidents like this possible.
69 command (VAT 69)
69 Komando has a significantly different task profile than the UTK, which mainly operates in an urban environment, it is a paramilitary jungle combat unit. The unit is named after its formation in 1969, when it was set up around the fight against the "communist terrorists" as ( Communist Terrorists ) to conduct designated left-wing guerrillas, which were operating at that time in Malaysia. These guerrillas operated from hidden camps in the jungles of Malaysia, and 69 Komando were supposed to find and dig these camps. For this reason, 60 men were selected from the then 1,600-strong paramilitary Malaysian Police Field Force and received extensive jungle warfare and command training from the British SAS . Of these 60 men, only the 30 best were actually accepted into the newly created commando unit, and these 30 men formed the first and at that time the only company of 69 commandos from October 23, 1969 . From 1977 the unit was expanded by three more to its current strength of four companies, this time the New Zealand SAS took over the training and this time instructors were trained so that the unit could from now on recruit and train its offspring itself. By the end of communist guerrilla activities in the late 1980s, the unit had arrested 30 enemy fighters and killed 36 others. In Malaysian the unit is referred to as 69 Komando , in English, however, the designation VAT 69 has prevailed, with VAT being the abbreviation for Very Able Troops . It is not known whether there is a relationship with the Scottish whiskey of the same name . The unit is stationed near the city of Ipoh in the state of Perak . The communist guerrillas in Malaysia are no longer active, so the task area of the unit has shifted today, although the focus is still on the jungle fight. The fight against piracy is also one of their tasks, in this context 69 Komando works closely with UNGERIN , another special unit of the Malaysian police that specializes in maritime access.
In 2007, 69 Komando received an urban combat training facility, funded by the United States' Joint Interagency Task Force West (JITF West), valued at approximately 2 million ringgit.
In addition to armed operations, the unit also takes part in rescue missions if these take place deep in the jungle and it may be too risky for members of other state authorities to advance into these areas.
The members of 69 Komando wear a sand-colored beret, also with the badge of the Malaysian police, at parades it is given a yellow plume. The association badge is black, red and yellow and shows two karambit knives , which symbolize the number 69, a spear and the words "Komando".
Web links
- Berita Harian Online: VAT 69 digeruni komunis ( Memento of May 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (Malaysian), accessed on December 7, 2009
- Specwar.info: Pasukan Gerakan Khas , accessed December 7, 2009.
- Police Paramilitary Force , accessed December 7, 2009
literature
- Navaratnam, A. (2001): The Spear and the Kerambit: The Exploits Of Vat 69, Malaysia's Elite Fighting Force 1968-1989 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Directorate PDRM. Retrieved April 20, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Tribute To Pasukan Gerakan Khas (PGK) Malaysia Very Own Elite Forces ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed December 7, 2009.
- ↑ a b The Star (September 22, 2007): In full force ( Memento of the original from May 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ a b The Star (July 5, 2007): Court gets an insight into inner workings of Special Action Force .
- ↑ Utusan Online (December 28, 2002): 'M16 Gang crippled, three members including mastermind shot dead' .
- ^ The Star (August 27, 2005): Guns, grit & guts .
- ↑ The Star (April 9, 2009): Altantuya murder: It's death for Azilah and Sirul .
- ↑ The Star (July 4, 2007): Altantuya claimed she would be killed by Razak, witness tells court .
- ^ The Star (February 4, 2009): Altantuya case: Sirul says he is a scapegoat .
- ^ New Straits Times (July 13, 1988): Man of VAT 69 fame retires 'satisfied'.
- ^ The Star (October 26, 2007): VAT 69 gets RM2m shoot house .
- ^ The Star (December 12, 2007): Commandos rescue 38 stranded in jungle .
- ^ The Star (June 25, 2004): Medium's lend 'supernatural powers' to mission .
