SRINAGAR: The Central Reserve Police Force will raise a new Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) in Jammu and Kashmir, CRPF Director General Gyanendra Pratap Singh announced at the force’s 86th Raising Day in Neemuch. The unit, set up on the direction of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, will conduct intelligence‑based counter‑terror operations in the forested areas of both Jammu and the Kashmir Valley.
This will be the 11th CoBRA battalion since the first was formed in 2008–09 to counter Left Wing Extremism. In 2023, several CoBRA companies underwent training in the Valley but were not deployed. Until now, counter‑terror duties there have fallen to regular CRPF units and the Kashmir Valley Quick Action Teams.
CoBRA commandos receive training in jungle warfare and guerrilla tactics and are equipped with modern assault weapons, communication devices and surveillance gear. The new battalion aims to bolster the force’s response to recent terrorist incidents in Jammu and to enhance overall operational readiness in the Union Territory.
The CRPF, established as the Crown Representative’s Police on July 27 1939 and renamed in 1949 by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, is the world’s largest paramilitary force, with some 325,000 personnel across 248 battalions.
