After the flash victory of the Taliban Islamic Jihadist terrorists over the Afghanistan Army with support from Pakistan, Indian security planners have come with a new training module on the Taliban and its modus operandi for its border forces and armed police units deployed in the counter-terrorism grid in view of the “emerging” scenario.

The way Kabul fell into the hands of the Taliban last month is now been seen as having a ‘serious bearing’ with direct impact on India’s security and the ground forces and their intelligence setup have been tasked to update both their strategy, tactics, and combat syllabus on the new “geo-political situation in central and south Asia and its grave security implication on India’s borders and the hinterland.”

The directive issued by the security establishment i.e. the national security council headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi a few days back wants a recalibrated scenario where infiltration from across the border from Pakistan on India’s west and illegal entry of terrorist operatives from open fronts in the east may increase including the influx of foreign terrorist fighters.

Now Indian security services like the Border Security Force (BSF) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), state police units, and those involved in counter-terrorist duties like the CRPF and Jammu and Kashmir Police have to rethink their existing title of the “changing dynamics of border management”.

“This included information on the Taliban as well but it was not updated. That is being added through open-source authentic information and others available in a classified manner to us and the focus is the developments of the last twenty years that took place in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks,” the officer said.

The government is now preparing a thorough training, intelligence, and combat module on the Taliban, its leadership, and their modus operandi. Also, specific case studies are being analysed and new directives have been sent to the central and state police forces which have multiple levels of training centers and academies to train their personnel and officers during induction and while in service.

“It is very important for the last man standing at the border, a check post or under a police jurisdiction to know about the Taliban’s history and linked activities and strategies.

“Senior and top commanders of the security forces may know most of the things about Afghanistan and Taliban situation but they draw their operational strength from the troops or the constable standing on the ground. They need to be informed well,” another senior officer working in the training management division of a paramilitary force said.

The security forces are also enhancing their training quota of personnel for understanding IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and vehicle-borne IEDs (VBIEDs). “IEDs remain a constant threat to the security personnel and their operations everywhere be it anti-Naxal operations or counter-terrorist duties.

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