Garud commandoes take first casualties after operating for 12 yrs in J&K

Modelled on Israeli Shaldag, Garuds earn combat experience in Kashmir

In January 2016, while defending the Pathankot air base in Punjab, Corporal Gursewak Singh became the first Garud – the Indian Air Force (IAF) commando force – to fall to terrorist bullets.

On Wednesday morning, two more IAF commandos – Sergeant Milind Kishor and Corporal Nilesh Kumar Nayan – became the first Garud fatalities in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).

Kishor and Nayan died in action in Hajin village, near Bandipura in North Kashmir. They were operating with an army unit, 13 Rashtriya Rifles, when three armed militants opened fire at them. Incident accounts indicate the