Faux Ambush

Indo-US special forces conducted a joint exercise at the Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School (CIJWS) in the northeastern state of Mizoram last month. A statement from the US consulate in Calcutta confirmed the three-week-long joint military project that ended on April 26. "The intense exercise, conducted in a rugged environment, involved training in marksmanship, heliborne and airborne training, the modus operandi of militants, movement and communication in jungles, patrolling, ambush, jungle survival, raids, intelligence operations and hostage rescue," it read. (An ironical aside: the CIJWS also trained Iraqi troops in the late ’70s.) The troops also carried out "three complex jungle exercises" that included a simulation of a tough hostage situation.