Indo-Seychelles exercises-Forces bring out their best during "raid" |17 November 2004

They secured Baie St Anne Jetty to prevent any of the imaginary criminals from escaping upon "reports" that a group of "terrorists" were about to take over the airport.

An advance team of Indian sky divers discreetly parachuted from very high altitude with great accuracy, took over the control tower and cleared the runway in readiness for their Ilyushin-32 to land with Indian and Seychellois reinforcements.

Once they were on the ground, they secured the runway, the aircraft and the surroundings.

An Indian team then sneaked to one supposed hideout of "terrorists" and flushed them out, while a Seychellois one did the "house clearance" of another, as they called the raid.

As the Seychellois watched the Indians perform, they openly expressed their admiration for the way they went about the operation.

"Each of the men from the Indian team has had first hand experience with real terrorists," the event's coordinator, Seychelles People's Defence Forces (SPDF) training officer, Captain Edward Anacoura, said.

SPDF personnel noted that India had tremendous experience in dealing with terrorists because they were already having to deal with them before terrorism became a global problem.

He said that the Seychellois benefited comparatively more from the exercises they conducted with the Indian army than with others because after classroom theory and practical lessons, they then got to the ground and practiced what they learned together.

On their part, the Indian soldiers in fact expressed surprise at how the Seychellois handled the "terrorists", as they countered their every negative move using techniques the SPDF personnel seemed to have learned earlier.

After capturing them, they skillfully tied up the "terrorists" and got them to kneel, stand or walk even when the captives did not wish to comply.

The army team leader, Lt Col Deepak Bakshi described the SPDF personnel as a very professional organisation.

Nevertheless, he said there were still areas in which both teams could improve in.
The Indian High Commissioner, H.E. Arun Kumar Goef, who witnessed the exercises, commended both teams for their good performance.

He said the exercises were the outcome of a long period of planning and thanked all those involved for the hard work they had put in it.

"The exercise has certainly helped to sharpen the skills of the personnel from both sides, and has further cemented the relations between our two countries," he said, underscoring the need to be on the alert in the light of growing terrorism threats.