Operational History:
The first operational tasking for the SSG came right after its inception in the mid-50s when it was used to train Naga rebels in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to fight against the Indian Army. During the 60’s, SSG took part in several missions on the Afghan border as well. It was not until 1965, however, that the first real test of the SSG capabilities came in form of a major conflict with India.
1965 Indo-Pakistan War:
Way before the initiation of hostilities, a plan had been conceived by the Pakistan Air Force to use SSG to sabotage five forward air bases in India in case of conflict. The orders for planning of such an operation were transmitted to the SSG through GHQ. The plan was discussed at length at the Parachute Training School at Peshawar with senior army and air force personnel. The SSG command was of the notion that strikes on the lines of a similar Israeli operation against Arab countries during the 1956 Arab Israel War would be successful in case they were done preemptively. However, that decision could only be taken by the President himself.
The details of these plans were kept totally confidential and the team leaders found out about the specifics of the mission the day they were to go into action. The intelligence provided to the SSG operators about the targets was very outdated and inaccurate. In some cases, the teams had to make do with maps dating back to 1909/1912.
On the fateful day of 6th September 1965, when hostilities finally commenced, it was decided that three air bases at Adampur, Halwara and Pathankot were going to be targeted by SSG commandos airdropped at night. The plan was to destroy Indian Air Force combat aircraft on the ground and put the bases out of action and then exfiltrate back into Pakistan following the various waterways found in Punjab that flow from India to Pakistan. For this, three teams of approximately 45 commandos each were air dropped by C-130Bs in the early morning hours of 7th September.
Due to the difficult terrain and very low visibility, none of the teams were able to regroup after the drops. The Adampur group was unable to assemble at night and waited the following day out hiding in the cornfields. However, most of the commandos were rounded-up and captured including their commander Captain Assad Durrani. The Pathankot group faced a similar fate and most of the SSG operators were taken as POWs including their commanding officer Major Khalid Gulrez Butt. Many in the group designated for assault on Halwara actually landed around the air field perimeter itself but did not have any wire-cutters and were easily captured by the alerted Indian defenders. The leader of the Halwara team, Captain Hasan Iftikhar was bayoneted and taken prisoner while he attempted to meet up with the rest of his team. Only a few made it back to Pakistan. Captain Hazur Husnain (2nd-in-command to Captain Hasan Iftikhar) and a few jawans were able to commandeer an Indian Army jeep and made it back via Fazilka.
At the end of the raids, most of the commandos were taken as POW, while 20 or so were KIA. Some 22 commandos were able to make their way back to Pakistan over the next few days after the drop. From its very inception, the operations were bound to fail. The commandos were sent into enemy territory without proper planning and even less intelligence about terrain or the enemy defenses. Even according to SSG's own assessment of these operations before the war, they were bound to fail if general hostilities had been initiated before these operations were executed as the enemy would be at full alert after the war began. Thus para-dropping the SSG without the element of surprise into enemy territory, lacking local support or appropriate exfilteration plan resulted in this tragedy.
1971 Indo-Pakistan War:
1971 Indo-Pakistan War When the border war between India and Pakistan flared once again in 1971, the SSG had already undergone a major expansion. During the years leading to war, Pakistani regulars were already facing a full-fledged civil war in its Eastern wing. The 3 Cdo Bn of the SSG had been deployed at Chittagong since April 1970. Later it was put under the command of the 14th Division in Comilla. It then consisted of only two commando companies; Hamza and Ibrahim, unlike the 1 and 2 Commando Battalions, a headquarter platoon, a signals platoon and a frogman platoon. Every two years, half of the personnel of the 3 Cdo Bn were rotated through West Pakistan. Personnel coming from West Pakistan who were unfamiliar with the region usually had local guides to help them navigate through the country. On 23rd March of 1971, two more Companies of the 2 Cdo Bn, Ghazi and Shaheen, were airlifted to Chittagong to assist with the Pakistani operations.
The 3 Cdo Bn, then under a new commander, was trained in close quarter combat, demolition, and night time operations among other training. As such, the battalion came to East Pakistan with a mission profile of a 'stay behind' force, operating within enemy controlled areas in case East Pakistan was overrun by the Indian Army. However, their deployment and usage in subsequent operations was not too different from that of a typical infantry unit, and for the most part they were used as such. Before the start of the war, the 2 and 3 Cdo Bns were used to secure strategic locations such as the airport and the naval docks at Comilla. During the brutal and common urban warfare that followed after the initiation of hostilities, some SSG members were killed in ambushes and fire fights. These included the CO of 2 Cdo Bn, Lieutenant Colonel Suleiman. After this incident, the two companies associated with this battalion were brought under the command of CO, 3 Cdo Bn.
Once the SSG compliment grew in East Pakistan, the SSG operators were henceforth ordered to wear their distinctive maroon berets, as to announce to everyone that the Commandos had arrived. This step was taken to boost the morale of the regular troops and was also used to serve as a warning to those bent upon creating trouble in the areas where SSG had been deployed.
Upon the start of the hostilities, division and brigade commanders in East Pakistan always wanted to have the SSG personnel on their beck and call for use in normal infantry and COIN roles to avoid the use of their own troops. SSG forces were thus improperly utilized and stretched thin. Despite that, SSG units successfully conducted many rescue missions for stranded officers and men in various parts of the country. In many instances, when the regular military units could not achieve their objectives, the SSG was called in for support. SSG was called in twice by Major General Abdul Rahim Khan, once to secure the bridge over the Mehgna at Bhairab Bazaar going to Chittagong and then when his brigade failed to capture the Belonia salient even with artillery support. This latter task was accomplished by two platoons of 3 Cdo. Due to such tactically incorrect use of the SSG, the full potential was never fully realized. Near the end of the war, the
3 Cdo Bn, initially of two company strength, was eventually reduced to five platoons and even with this diminished strength, cleared more than 2,000 square miles from the Indian supported rebels in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Overall, the SSG performed very well in the 71 War and its members set themselves apart from others both in terms of personal conduct and operational effectiveness. However, due to various reasons, they were not used in many operations that would have realized the full potential of their skills and training. Of the few special operations conducted during this war was one where the SSG operators safely extracted Bangali leader Sheikh Mujeeb-ur-Rehman from his stronghold. Other planned missions such as one that aimed to put the Calcutta Radio Station out of commission was turned down by General A.K. Niazi who did not fully appreciate the strategic and tactical value of the SSG.
Post war period:
Pakistan's support of the Afghan mujahiddin during the Soviet invasion is well known. However the exact nature of the SSG role in opposing the Soviets in not an open account. It is well known that SSG regularly trained the Afghan fighters in guerilla tactics that proved quite successful against the occupying army. SSG officers and men were sent on ‘Extra Regimental Employment’ (ERE) duties to Afghanistan and took part in the actual fighting. Since then, this elite force has been used in various other theaters. In the 80s, much to India’s chagrin, the SSG helped train a large cadre of Sri Lankan soldiers to fight against the Tamil Tigers, who in turn were supported by India.
Counter Terrorism Operations
The first operational tasking for the SSG came right after its inception in the mid-50s when it was used to train Naga rebels in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to fight against the Indian Army. During the 60’s, SSG took part in several missions on the Afghan border as well. It was not until 1965, however, that the first real test of the SSG capabilities came in form of a major conflict with India.
1965 Indo-Pakistan War:
Way before the initiation of hostilities, a plan had been conceived by the Pakistan Air Force to use SSG to sabotage five forward air bases in India in case of conflict. The orders for planning of such an operation were transmitted to the SSG through GHQ. The plan was discussed at length at the Parachute Training School at Peshawar with senior army and air force personnel. The SSG command was of the notion that strikes on the lines of a similar Israeli operation against Arab countries during the 1956 Arab Israel War would be successful in case they were done preemptively. However, that decision could only be taken by the President himself.
The details of these plans were kept totally confidential and the team leaders found out about the specifics of the mission the day they were to go into action. The intelligence provided to the SSG operators about the targets was very outdated and inaccurate. In some cases, the teams had to make do with maps dating back to 1909/1912.
On the fateful day of 6th September 1965, when hostilities finally commenced, it was decided that three air bases at Adampur, Halwara and Pathankot were going to be targeted by SSG commandos airdropped at night. The plan was to destroy Indian Air Force combat aircraft on the ground and put the bases out of action and then exfiltrate back into Pakistan following the various waterways found in Punjab that flow from India to Pakistan. For this, three teams of approximately 45 commandos each were air dropped by C-130Bs in the early morning hours of 7th September.
Due to the difficult terrain and very low visibility, none of the teams were able to regroup after the drops. The Adampur group was unable to assemble at night and waited the following day out hiding in the cornfields. However, most of the commandos were rounded-up and captured including their commander Captain Assad Durrani. The Pathankot group faced a similar fate and most of the SSG operators were taken as POWs including their commanding officer Major Khalid Gulrez Butt. Many in the group designated for assault on Halwara actually landed around the air field perimeter itself but did not have any wire-cutters and were easily captured by the alerted Indian defenders. The leader of the Halwara team, Captain Hasan Iftikhar was bayoneted and taken prisoner while he attempted to meet up with the rest of his team. Only a few made it back to Pakistan. Captain Hazur Husnain (2nd-in-command to Captain Hasan Iftikhar) and a few jawans were able to commandeer an Indian Army jeep and made it back via Fazilka.
At the end of the raids, most of the commandos were taken as POW, while 20 or so were KIA. Some 22 commandos were able to make their way back to Pakistan over the next few days after the drop. From its very inception, the operations were bound to fail. The commandos were sent into enemy territory without proper planning and even less intelligence about terrain or the enemy defenses. Even according to SSG's own assessment of these operations before the war, they were bound to fail if general hostilities had been initiated before these operations were executed as the enemy would be at full alert after the war began. Thus para-dropping the SSG without the element of surprise into enemy territory, lacking local support or appropriate exfilteration plan resulted in this tragedy.
1971 Indo-Pakistan War:
1971 Indo-Pakistan War When the border war between India and Pakistan flared once again in 1971, the SSG had already undergone a major expansion. During the years leading to war, Pakistani regulars were already facing a full-fledged civil war in its Eastern wing. The 3 Cdo Bn of the SSG had been deployed at Chittagong since April 1970. Later it was put under the command of the 14th Division in Comilla. It then consisted of only two commando companies; Hamza and Ibrahim, unlike the 1 and 2 Commando Battalions, a headquarter platoon, a signals platoon and a frogman platoon. Every two years, half of the personnel of the 3 Cdo Bn were rotated through West Pakistan. Personnel coming from West Pakistan who were unfamiliar with the region usually had local guides to help them navigate through the country. On 23rd March of 1971, two more Companies of the 2 Cdo Bn, Ghazi and Shaheen, were airlifted to Chittagong to assist with the Pakistani operations.
The 3 Cdo Bn, then under a new commander, was trained in close quarter combat, demolition, and night time operations among other training. As such, the battalion came to East Pakistan with a mission profile of a 'stay behind' force, operating within enemy controlled areas in case East Pakistan was overrun by the Indian Army. However, their deployment and usage in subsequent operations was not too different from that of a typical infantry unit, and for the most part they were used as such. Before the start of the war, the 2 and 3 Cdo Bns were used to secure strategic locations such as the airport and the naval docks at Comilla. During the brutal and common urban warfare that followed after the initiation of hostilities, some SSG members were killed in ambushes and fire fights. These included the CO of 2 Cdo Bn, Lieutenant Colonel Suleiman. After this incident, the two companies associated with this battalion were brought under the command of CO, 3 Cdo Bn.
Once the SSG compliment grew in East Pakistan, the SSG operators were henceforth ordered to wear their distinctive maroon berets, as to announce to everyone that the Commandos had arrived. This step was taken to boost the morale of the regular troops and was also used to serve as a warning to those bent upon creating trouble in the areas where SSG had been deployed.
Upon the start of the hostilities, division and brigade commanders in East Pakistan always wanted to have the SSG personnel on their beck and call for use in normal infantry and COIN roles to avoid the use of their own troops. SSG forces were thus improperly utilized and stretched thin. Despite that, SSG units successfully conducted many rescue missions for stranded officers and men in various parts of the country. In many instances, when the regular military units could not achieve their objectives, the SSG was called in for support. SSG was called in twice by Major General Abdul Rahim Khan, once to secure the bridge over the Mehgna at Bhairab Bazaar going to Chittagong and then when his brigade failed to capture the Belonia salient even with artillery support. This latter task was accomplished by two platoons of 3 Cdo. Due to such tactically incorrect use of the SSG, the full potential was never fully realized. Near the end of the war, the
3 Cdo Bn, initially of two company strength, was eventually reduced to five platoons and even with this diminished strength, cleared more than 2,000 square miles from the Indian supported rebels in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Overall, the SSG performed very well in the 71 War and its members set themselves apart from others both in terms of personal conduct and operational effectiveness. However, due to various reasons, they were not used in many operations that would have realized the full potential of their skills and training. Of the few special operations conducted during this war was one where the SSG operators safely extracted Bangali leader Sheikh Mujeeb-ur-Rehman from his stronghold. Other planned missions such as one that aimed to put the Calcutta Radio Station out of commission was turned down by General A.K. Niazi who did not fully appreciate the strategic and tactical value of the SSG.
Post war period:
Pakistan's support of the Afghan mujahiddin during the Soviet invasion is well known. However the exact nature of the SSG role in opposing the Soviets in not an open account. It is well known that SSG regularly trained the Afghan fighters in guerilla tactics that proved quite successful against the occupying army. SSG officers and men were sent on ‘Extra Regimental Employment’ (ERE) duties to Afghanistan and took part in the actual fighting. Since then, this elite force has been used in various other theaters. In the 80s, much to India’s chagrin, the SSG helped train a large cadre of Sri Lankan soldiers to fight against the Tamil Tigers, who in turn were supported by India.
Counter Terrorism Operations
PAN AM Flight 73 Hijacking
In September 1986, a group of four Palestinian hijackers commandeered the Pan Am Flight 73 at Karachi airport. The flight was enroute from Bombay, India to New York and had stopped at Karachi to refuel and pickup more passengers. Close to the aircraft, the Palestinians took out their weapons and firing onto the tarmac rushed into the plane as the passengers were being boarded. The control tower, learning of the shooting immediately notified the cockpit. Due to the fast response, the crew members were able to escape through an escape hatch landing some 36 feet down on the tarmac and effectively grounding the aircraft.
The terrorists had planned their operation very well, as it was later realized. Karachi airport had passed the U.S. government's security inspections with high marks. Following a general warning issued by the Federal Aviation Authority, all American airlines were on a higher state of alert as well. The terrorists however, had been able to by-pass these security measures by coming onto the tarmac from the airport's perimeter. They began their operation in the early pre-dawn hours, at about 5 a.m. on a Friday when the security is most lax. Two of the terrorists were dressed in airport security uniforms and they drove up to the aircraft in a rented van that was disguised as a security vehicle.
In the hours preceding the attack, the atmosphere was calm but tense. After nearly five hours, negotiations finally began first with the Pan Am representatives and then with Pakistani officials. It was learnt that the hijackers wanted to fly the aircraft to Larnaca, Cyprus and demanded the release of their comrades held in prison there. Lacking the cockpit crew, they also demanded that an Arabic speaking crew be provided for them for the rest of the trip. Cyprus on the other hand had conveyed to Pakistan that it would under no circumstances allow the plane to land in their territory. Pakistani negotiators therefore tried to stall the hijackers by telling them that a crew was on its way from Frankfurt to Karachi and did not tell about the Cypriot refusal. The hijackers thus set a deadline of 7:00 p.m. before they would start killing more passengers. Earlier on, the hijackers had already killed an Indian born U.S. national Rajesh Kumar and thrown his body out of the plane as a show of their resolve to kill innocent people. The 7:00 p.m. deadline came and passed with no sign of a new flight crew and so the hijackers set a new deadline of 11:00 p.m.
By that time, Pakistani authorities had already decided upon a commando style raid on the plane, similar to the one during the 1981 hijacking at Lahore. For this, a small force of SSG was already practicing for the raid under mock conditions at another part of the airport. Earlier, there had been reports that the U.S. would itself be sending in a team of Delta Force commandos from bases in Germany. However, the time constraints did not allow for such delays and Pakistani authorities could not wait for help to arrive from outside.
Tragedy struck during the 17th hour of the crisis as the generator that supplied power to the aircraft's lights and air conditioning ran out of fuel and the plane plunged into darkness. It also caused the radio contact to be lost with the hijackers. Suspecting an assault on the aircraft was in progress, the hijackers started rounding up people in one corner and started firing indiscriminately, hurling at least two grenades in the process as well. In the mayhem, some passengers managed to open an emergency door and get out using an escape slide.
Pakistani officials were clearly taken aback by the setback. Pakistan's chief of civil aviation, retired Air Marshal Kurshid Anwar Mirza, who had been acting as negotiator ran out on the tarmac with a megaphone to warn the hijackers not to panic. However, the shooting had already started and the commandos preparing for the raid were no where near the Pan Am flight at that time. It was almost fifteen minutes later that the Pakistani commandos arrived at the scene and stormed the plane. In the resulting shootout, the SSG members killed one of the terrorists immediately and captured two others in a short time. The last hijacker tried to escape with the passengers but was apprehended as well. Two groups claimed responsibility for the attack: the Jundullah Organization, a pro-Iranian Moslem group active in Lebanon, and the Libyan Revolutionary Cell, a previously unknown group. Pakistani intelligence officials identified the gunmen as Palestinians but the spokesmen for Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat denied responsibility.
Due to the firing, almost a hundred passengers and crew members received injuries, about half of them serious. By September 11th, a total of 21 people had died. Majority of the dead were Indian nationals, while at least two Americans, several Pakistani and Mexican citizens also died. Autopsy results indicated that 10 of the victims had dies from gunfire, seven as a result of shrapnel from the grenades and a further four from injuries when jumping out of the plane.
In the aftermath of the hijacking, many inadequacies within the SSG regarding such missions were revealed. Many analysts pointed out the 15 minute delay in the boarding of the plane after the lights went out and attributed the deaths of the passengers on the SSG performance. However, it is unjust to lay the blame on the SSG. Evidence suggests that the authorities had expected the generator to lose power, but not as quickly as it did. The SSG was in fact going to use the lights out to make their move against the hijackers. The SSG was however both ill-trained and ill-equipped for such missions. In fact, the team boarded the plane with an astonishing assortment of weapons ranging from H&K G3s to AK-47s. These high caliber weapons are not suited for such close combat encounters especially when there is a high risk of collateral damage. They were also not equipped with stun grenades, silencers, or flash bangs, all of which could have resulted in lesser casualties.
School Bus Hijacking:
On Sunday, February 20th, 1994, three Afghans kidnapped a school bus with seventy four students, six female teachers, a male teacher and an office clerk. The hijackers took control of the bus at the Haji Afghan refugee camp on the outskirts of Peshawar as it was picking up students for school. Afterwards, they forced the bus driver to drive to Islamabad. There the hijackers took the bus to the Afghan mission in Islamabad and conveyed there demands to the government. Initially, the hijackers’ demands included opening of the Pakistan-Afghan border to allow more refugees to enter Pakistan, and well as highlight the poor conditions of the refugee camps in Pakistan.
Pakistan's then Interior Minister, Naseerullah Babar, was heading the negotiations which were fruitful as the hijackers released 57 of the hostages. However, the hijackers kept 16 boys and a teacher with them and issued new demands including $5 million dollars in cash and a helicopter to take them into Afghanistan. They were to exchange the students with new hostages once the helicopter had arrived, including the Afghan ambassador and some senior Pakistani officials. Later, through further negotiations, the hijackers released more hostages and kept five children and a teacher.
However, as the hijackers started becoming more hostile and impatient, the decision was taken to quickly neutralize the threat with a commando raid on the hijackers. The decision to carry out the operation was taken by the corps commander in consultation with the Afghan ambassador. The operation took only a few minutes to complete its objectives and none of the hostages were hurt. All three hijackers however were killed in the exchange. The Pakistani authorities had somehow managed to inform the children of the impending raid. The SSG commandos used a secondary explosion as a distraction and entered the room at the Afghan embassy where the hostages were being held, killing the three hijackers.
Fokker Friendship Hijacking
In May 1998, at the height of tensions with India and nearly a decade in passing since its last hijacking crisis, Pakistan found itself in a similar situation. A Pakistan International Airlines flight from the coastal city of Gwadar to Karachi was hijacked by three young men from the province of Balochistan as a protest against the nuclear testing in the province. However, by this time the Pakistani authorities were ready to deal with such situations. The speed with which all members in the chain-of-command reacted speaks highly of their professionalism, and the SSG redeemed its image once again as one of the most effective elite force.
On May 24th, three members of Balochistan Students Federation took control of the PIA Fokker 27 Friendship fifteen minutes in its flight from Gawadar to Karachi. One of the hijackers came into the cockpit and ordered the pilot, Captain Zuhair Ahmed, to fly to India. The pilot immediately gave in to their demands and pacified them by following their directions. Soon afterwards, the pilot was able to contact the authorities in Karachi and tell them of the hijacking. Preparations were then set in motion for the plane to land at the Pakistani city of Hyderabad, 160 km north-east of Karachi. On the ground, signs and billboards in Urdu were taken down and the airports closed-off to all other traffic. During the flight, Pakistan Air Force F-7P interceptors had taken to the air, escorting the plane the rest of way and finally ordering it to land at Hyderabad. Around 7:50 p.m. local time the aircraft landed at the Hyderabad airport, which was now plunged into darkness so that the hijackers could not make out their location.
Immediately following touchdown, security personnel from the army surrounded the aircraft. Since the hijackers were armed with guns and explosives, no move was made to board the plane and risk civilian casualties. Contact was made with the hijackers who demanded fuel for the plane so that they could fly to New Delhi. They were told by the authorities that it would take some time to meet their demands at the "small" Bhuj airfield. In the negotiations with the hijackers the Sindh Chief Secretary and SSP (Hyderabad) posed as Pakistan's Ambassador to India and "Mr. Ashok, SP (Bhuj)" respectively. The hijackers, feeling confident, sent out the flight engineer in order to get water and a generator to provide power to the aircraft.
After eight long hours of negotiations, during which the hijackers told the authorities of their reasons for hijacking, they let eight passengers, women and children, out of the aircraft. Around 3 a.m., the negotiators persuaded the three men to come out as well. The SSG commandos, seizing their opportunity, rushed the hijackers and placed them under arrest. In the scuffle, one of the hijackers, Sabir Ali was injured and taken to the local hospital, while one commando was injured by a gunshot wound from the hijackers. The other two hijackers were identified only as Shahsawar and Shabbir. However, all 29 passengers and their 3 man crew received no injuries.
Kargil Operations:
During the winter of 1999, Pakistan Army started conducting covert operations inside Indian occupied territory in the Kargil region around the line of control. The incursion was based on the premise of capturing a few key positions atop Kargil hills that would give Pakistan Army a distinct advantage in that theater. The idea was to block the logistics efforts of the Indian Army for keeping the units based on the Siachen glacier supplied. The Indian forces had been abandoning these posts in the winter months due to the extreme cold, coming back in the spring to man them again. Pakistani strategists taking this window of opportunity sent in volunteers from various units and guerillas already engaged in the Kashmir theater to occupy and further strengthen these posts and bunkers and use them as defensive positions against the Indians who would return the following spring. Although no official report or findings has been made public in Pakistan about the Kargil operations, it is generally believed that the plan was very well thought-out on the operational side, yet proved to be a real embarrassment for the Pakistani government on the political front as it had to withdraw its support for the operation despite the army's annoyance. SSG operators undoubtedly took part in these covert operations as they have unique mountain warfare and high-altitude training. Capt Ammar Hussain, an SSG officer among many others, was awarded Sitara-e-Jurrat posthumously for inconspicuous bravery during these operations.
In September 1986, a group of four Palestinian hijackers commandeered the Pan Am Flight 73 at Karachi airport. The flight was enroute from Bombay, India to New York and had stopped at Karachi to refuel and pickup more passengers. Close to the aircraft, the Palestinians took out their weapons and firing onto the tarmac rushed into the plane as the passengers were being boarded. The control tower, learning of the shooting immediately notified the cockpit. Due to the fast response, the crew members were able to escape through an escape hatch landing some 36 feet down on the tarmac and effectively grounding the aircraft.
The terrorists had planned their operation very well, as it was later realized. Karachi airport had passed the U.S. government's security inspections with high marks. Following a general warning issued by the Federal Aviation Authority, all American airlines were on a higher state of alert as well. The terrorists however, had been able to by-pass these security measures by coming onto the tarmac from the airport's perimeter. They began their operation in the early pre-dawn hours, at about 5 a.m. on a Friday when the security is most lax. Two of the terrorists were dressed in airport security uniforms and they drove up to the aircraft in a rented van that was disguised as a security vehicle.
In the hours preceding the attack, the atmosphere was calm but tense. After nearly five hours, negotiations finally began first with the Pan Am representatives and then with Pakistani officials. It was learnt that the hijackers wanted to fly the aircraft to Larnaca, Cyprus and demanded the release of their comrades held in prison there. Lacking the cockpit crew, they also demanded that an Arabic speaking crew be provided for them for the rest of the trip. Cyprus on the other hand had conveyed to Pakistan that it would under no circumstances allow the plane to land in their territory. Pakistani negotiators therefore tried to stall the hijackers by telling them that a crew was on its way from Frankfurt to Karachi and did not tell about the Cypriot refusal. The hijackers thus set a deadline of 7:00 p.m. before they would start killing more passengers. Earlier on, the hijackers had already killed an Indian born U.S. national Rajesh Kumar and thrown his body out of the plane as a show of their resolve to kill innocent people. The 7:00 p.m. deadline came and passed with no sign of a new flight crew and so the hijackers set a new deadline of 11:00 p.m.
By that time, Pakistani authorities had already decided upon a commando style raid on the plane, similar to the one during the 1981 hijacking at Lahore. For this, a small force of SSG was already practicing for the raid under mock conditions at another part of the airport. Earlier, there had been reports that the U.S. would itself be sending in a team of Delta Force commandos from bases in Germany. However, the time constraints did not allow for such delays and Pakistani authorities could not wait for help to arrive from outside.
Tragedy struck during the 17th hour of the crisis as the generator that supplied power to the aircraft's lights and air conditioning ran out of fuel and the plane plunged into darkness. It also caused the radio contact to be lost with the hijackers. Suspecting an assault on the aircraft was in progress, the hijackers started rounding up people in one corner and started firing indiscriminately, hurling at least two grenades in the process as well. In the mayhem, some passengers managed to open an emergency door and get out using an escape slide.
Pakistani officials were clearly taken aback by the setback. Pakistan's chief of civil aviation, retired Air Marshal Kurshid Anwar Mirza, who had been acting as negotiator ran out on the tarmac with a megaphone to warn the hijackers not to panic. However, the shooting had already started and the commandos preparing for the raid were no where near the Pan Am flight at that time. It was almost fifteen minutes later that the Pakistani commandos arrived at the scene and stormed the plane. In the resulting shootout, the SSG members killed one of the terrorists immediately and captured two others in a short time. The last hijacker tried to escape with the passengers but was apprehended as well. Two groups claimed responsibility for the attack: the Jundullah Organization, a pro-Iranian Moslem group active in Lebanon, and the Libyan Revolutionary Cell, a previously unknown group. Pakistani intelligence officials identified the gunmen as Palestinians but the spokesmen for Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat denied responsibility.
Due to the firing, almost a hundred passengers and crew members received injuries, about half of them serious. By September 11th, a total of 21 people had died. Majority of the dead were Indian nationals, while at least two Americans, several Pakistani and Mexican citizens also died. Autopsy results indicated that 10 of the victims had dies from gunfire, seven as a result of shrapnel from the grenades and a further four from injuries when jumping out of the plane.
In the aftermath of the hijacking, many inadequacies within the SSG regarding such missions were revealed. Many analysts pointed out the 15 minute delay in the boarding of the plane after the lights went out and attributed the deaths of the passengers on the SSG performance. However, it is unjust to lay the blame on the SSG. Evidence suggests that the authorities had expected the generator to lose power, but not as quickly as it did. The SSG was in fact going to use the lights out to make their move against the hijackers. The SSG was however both ill-trained and ill-equipped for such missions. In fact, the team boarded the plane with an astonishing assortment of weapons ranging from H&K G3s to AK-47s. These high caliber weapons are not suited for such close combat encounters especially when there is a high risk of collateral damage. They were also not equipped with stun grenades, silencers, or flash bangs, all of which could have resulted in lesser casualties.
School Bus Hijacking:
On Sunday, February 20th, 1994, three Afghans kidnapped a school bus with seventy four students, six female teachers, a male teacher and an office clerk. The hijackers took control of the bus at the Haji Afghan refugee camp on the outskirts of Peshawar as it was picking up students for school. Afterwards, they forced the bus driver to drive to Islamabad. There the hijackers took the bus to the Afghan mission in Islamabad and conveyed there demands to the government. Initially, the hijackers’ demands included opening of the Pakistan-Afghan border to allow more refugees to enter Pakistan, and well as highlight the poor conditions of the refugee camps in Pakistan.
Pakistan's then Interior Minister, Naseerullah Babar, was heading the negotiations which were fruitful as the hijackers released 57 of the hostages. However, the hijackers kept 16 boys and a teacher with them and issued new demands including $5 million dollars in cash and a helicopter to take them into Afghanistan. They were to exchange the students with new hostages once the helicopter had arrived, including the Afghan ambassador and some senior Pakistani officials. Later, through further negotiations, the hijackers released more hostages and kept five children and a teacher.
However, as the hijackers started becoming more hostile and impatient, the decision was taken to quickly neutralize the threat with a commando raid on the hijackers. The decision to carry out the operation was taken by the corps commander in consultation with the Afghan ambassador. The operation took only a few minutes to complete its objectives and none of the hostages were hurt. All three hijackers however were killed in the exchange. The Pakistani authorities had somehow managed to inform the children of the impending raid. The SSG commandos used a secondary explosion as a distraction and entered the room at the Afghan embassy where the hostages were being held, killing the three hijackers.
Fokker Friendship Hijacking
In May 1998, at the height of tensions with India and nearly a decade in passing since its last hijacking crisis, Pakistan found itself in a similar situation. A Pakistan International Airlines flight from the coastal city of Gwadar to Karachi was hijacked by three young men from the province of Balochistan as a protest against the nuclear testing in the province. However, by this time the Pakistani authorities were ready to deal with such situations. The speed with which all members in the chain-of-command reacted speaks highly of their professionalism, and the SSG redeemed its image once again as one of the most effective elite force.
On May 24th, three members of Balochistan Students Federation took control of the PIA Fokker 27 Friendship fifteen minutes in its flight from Gawadar to Karachi. One of the hijackers came into the cockpit and ordered the pilot, Captain Zuhair Ahmed, to fly to India. The pilot immediately gave in to their demands and pacified them by following their directions. Soon afterwards, the pilot was able to contact the authorities in Karachi and tell them of the hijacking. Preparations were then set in motion for the plane to land at the Pakistani city of Hyderabad, 160 km north-east of Karachi. On the ground, signs and billboards in Urdu were taken down and the airports closed-off to all other traffic. During the flight, Pakistan Air Force F-7P interceptors had taken to the air, escorting the plane the rest of way and finally ordering it to land at Hyderabad. Around 7:50 p.m. local time the aircraft landed at the Hyderabad airport, which was now plunged into darkness so that the hijackers could not make out their location.
Immediately following touchdown, security personnel from the army surrounded the aircraft. Since the hijackers were armed with guns and explosives, no move was made to board the plane and risk civilian casualties. Contact was made with the hijackers who demanded fuel for the plane so that they could fly to New Delhi. They were told by the authorities that it would take some time to meet their demands at the "small" Bhuj airfield. In the negotiations with the hijackers the Sindh Chief Secretary and SSP (Hyderabad) posed as Pakistan's Ambassador to India and "Mr. Ashok, SP (Bhuj)" respectively. The hijackers, feeling confident, sent out the flight engineer in order to get water and a generator to provide power to the aircraft.
After eight long hours of negotiations, during which the hijackers told the authorities of their reasons for hijacking, they let eight passengers, women and children, out of the aircraft. Around 3 a.m., the negotiators persuaded the three men to come out as well. The SSG commandos, seizing their opportunity, rushed the hijackers and placed them under arrest. In the scuffle, one of the hijackers, Sabir Ali was injured and taken to the local hospital, while one commando was injured by a gunshot wound from the hijackers. The other two hijackers were identified only as Shahsawar and Shabbir. However, all 29 passengers and their 3 man crew received no injuries.
Kargil Operations:
During the winter of 1999, Pakistan Army started conducting covert operations inside Indian occupied territory in the Kargil region around the line of control. The incursion was based on the premise of capturing a few key positions atop Kargil hills that would give Pakistan Army a distinct advantage in that theater. The idea was to block the logistics efforts of the Indian Army for keeping the units based on the Siachen glacier supplied. The Indian forces had been abandoning these posts in the winter months due to the extreme cold, coming back in the spring to man them again. Pakistani strategists taking this window of opportunity sent in volunteers from various units and guerillas already engaged in the Kashmir theater to occupy and further strengthen these posts and bunkers and use them as defensive positions against the Indians who would return the following spring. Although no official report or findings has been made public in Pakistan about the Kargil operations, it is generally believed that the plan was very well thought-out on the operational side, yet proved to be a real embarrassment for the Pakistani government on the political front as it had to withdraw its support for the operation despite the army's annoyance. SSG operators undoubtedly took part in these covert operations as they have unique mountain warfare and high-altitude training. Capt Ammar Hussain, an SSG officer among many others, was awarded Sitara-e-Jurrat posthumously for inconspicuous bravery during these operations.
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