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GIGN
The GIGN ( ; ) is the elite police tactical unit of the National Gendarmerie of France. Among its missions are counterterrorism, hostage rescue, surveillance of national threats, protection of government officials, critical site protection (such as French embassies in war-torn countries), and targeting organized crime. GIGN44 Domenjod 011021.jpg, Search and Observation GIGN57 Domenjod 170322.jpg, Intervention GIGN35 Domenjod 270918.jpg, Protection Established in 1973, the GIGN was initially created as a relatively small tactical unit specialized in sensitive hostage situations, but has since grown into a larger force with expanded responsibilities and capabilities. It is now composed of nearly 1,000 operators : around 400 operators based in Satory, near Versailles in the Paris area and approximately 600 operators in fourteen regional GIGN branches, AGIGN (french: Antennes du GIGN, label=none), located in metropolitan France or in the French overseas territories. The unit s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air France Flight 8969
Air France Flight 8969 was an Air France flight that was hijacked on 24 December 1994 by the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria (GIA) at Houari Boumediene Airport, Algiers. The terrorists murdered three passengers and their intention was either to blow up the plane over the Eiffel Tower in Paris or crash the plane into it. When the aircraft reached Marseille, the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN), a counter-terror unit of the French National Gendarmerie, stormed the plane and killed all four hijackers.Taylor (2008) This was the second Air France Airbus A300 to be hijacked since Air France Flight 139 in Entebbe, Uganda, in 1976, known as Operation Entebbe. Background Algeria was in a state of civil war at the time of the hijacking. Aircraft flying to Algeria faced the possibility of missile attacks. As a result, Air France's flights to Algeria had crews composed entirely of people who volunteered for the route. Air France had asked government officials if it absolutel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ouvéa Cave Hostage Taking
The Ouvéa cave hostage taking occurred from 22 April 1988 to 5 May 1988 on the island of Ouvéa, New Caledonia, a south Pacific island under control of France. During the hostage taking and seizure of a brigade of gendarmerie, members of an independence movement, the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front, killed four gendarmes (including two unarmed) and took 27 unarmed gendarmes hostages (weapons were in the armory during the night), later also taking hostage a public prosecutor who had been sent to negotiate, seven members of the French GIGN military unit and a regular army lieutenant. They demanded talks with the French government about independence for New Caledonia from France. In previous years, about ten gendarmes had been killed in New Caledonia in connection with the independence movement, also some Kanaks had been killed by policiers and gendarmes as well like Richard Kamuda in 1975, Théodore Daye in 1980, Eloi Machoro and Marcel Nonaro in 1985 and a young Ka ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Gendarmerie
The National Gendarmerie (french: Gendarmerie nationale, ) is one of two national law enforcement forces of France, along with the National Police. The Gendarmerie is a branch of the French Armed Forces placed under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior, with additional duties from the Ministry of Armed Forces. Its responsibilities include policing smaller towns, suburbs and rural areas, along with special subdivisions like the GSPR. By contrast, the National Police is a civilian law enforcement agency that is in charge of policing cities and larger towns. Because of its military status, the Gendarmerie also fulfills a range of military and defence missions, including having a cybercrime division. The Gendarmerie has a strength of around 102,269 people (as of 2018). The Gendarmerie is the heir of the , the oldest police force in France, dating back to the Middle Ages. The Gendarmerie has influenced the culture and traditions of gendarmerie forces around the world, e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grand Mosque Seizure
The Grand Mosque seizure lasted from 20 November 1979 to 4 December 1979, when extremist militants in Saudi Arabia calling for the overthrow of the House of Saud besieged and took over Masjid al-Haram, the holiest Islamic site, in the city of Mecca. The besieging militia, known as the Ikhwan, declared that the Mahdi (a messianic figure in Islamic eschatology) had arrived in the form of one of their leaders: Muhammad Abdullah al-Qahtani; the militants called on all Muslims to obey him. In the aftermath of the seizure, the Saudi Arabian Army, supported by France through advisors from the GIGN, fought the Ikhwan for almost two weeks in order to reclaim Masjid al-Haram. The seizure of the holiest Islamic site, the taking of hostages from among the worshippers, and the ensuing deaths of hundreds of militants, security forces, and hostages caught in the crossfire shocked the Muslim world. Al-Qahtani, the self-proclaimed messiah, was among the 117 militants who were killed by Saudi t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christian Prouteau
Christian Prouteau (born on the 7 April 1944) is a French officer of the ''Gendarmerie Nationale''. He was involved in the organisation of the GIGN and the GSPR. Biography Prouteau graduated from Saint-Cyr, the French army's officers' school, in 1969. After a stint in the army, he transferred to the National Gendarmerie and graduated from École des officiers de la gendarmerie nationale, the Gendarmerie's Officers school. Posted to a Mobile Gendarmerie squadron (ie troop) he became an instructor in commando techniques. In 1973, in response to the Munich massacre, French authorities decided to create an elite unit capable of countering acts of terrorism. Prouteau was selected to organise GIGN. Prouteau lead GIGN for 9 years, leading 64 interventions. He was severely wounded in 1980. From 1982 to 1988, Prouteau directed the 'Anti-terrorist Cell' of the Élysée which was involved in the Élysée wiretap scandal and the " Irish of Vincennes" affair. Relaxed for the "Irish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Counterterrorism
Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or eliminate terrorism. Counterterrorism strategies are a government's motivation to use the instruments of national power to defeat terrorists, the organizations they maintain, and the networks they contain. If definitions of terrorism are part of a broader insurgency, counterterrorism may employ counterinsurgency measures. The United States Armed Forces uses the term foreign internal defense for programs that support other countries' attempts to suppress insurgency, lawlessness, or subversion, or to reduce the conditions under which threats to national security may develop. History The first counter-terrorism body formed was the Special Irish Branch of the Metropolitan Police, later renamed the Special Branch after it expanded it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Counterterrorism
Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or eliminate terrorism. Counterterrorism strategies are a government's motivation to use the instruments of national power to defeat terrorists, the organizations they maintain, and the networks they contain. If definitions of terrorism are part of a broader insurgency, counterterrorism may employ counterinsurgency measures. The United States Armed Forces uses the term foreign internal defense for programs that support other countries' attempts to suppress insurgency, lawlessness, or subversion, or to reduce the conditions under which threats to national security may develop. History The first counter-terrorism body formed was the Special Irish Branch of the Metropolitan Police, later renamed the Special Branch after it expanded it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Research And Intervention Brigade
A Research and Intervention Brigade (french: Brigade de recherche et d'intervention (BRI) (), Investigation and Intervention Brigade or Anti-Gang Brigade) is a unit of the French National Police. The first units were formed in 1964 and carried out their tasks under the command of the Paris prefecture. BRIs are specialized in serious criminal cases such as armed robbery and kidnappings. They typically attempt to catch offenders in the act after monitoring their activities, a technique that was first experimented in the 1960s by the then-new Paris BRI. They use a mix of traditional techniques and modern technology to collect and archive data about banditry. Although most of the pictures illustrating this article show uniformed officers (of the Paris BRI-PP) during a hostage-rescue public demonstration, most BRI missions are undertaken by plainclothed officers. There are now more than 15 BRI units, located in France's major cities. The first of them, the Paris BRI (or BRI-PP for ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cross For Military Valour
The Cross for Military Valour (french: Croix de la Valeur Militaire) is a military decoration of France. It recognises an individual bestowed a Mention in Dispatches earned for showing valour in presence of an enemy, in theatres of operations which are not subject to the award of the Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures (Cross of War for Foreign Theatres of Operations). The Cross for Military Valour is usually awarded for security or peacekeeping operations, always outside the French territory. History It was established in 1956 to reward soldiers, sailors, and airmen serving in Algeria who had committed acts of valour or gallantry in combat. Algeria was a department of France at the time, so it was not considered a declared war but peacekeeping operations on French soil. Therefore, the War Cross for foreign operational theatres, which had been awarded for valiant service in Indochina, was not considered appropriate. ''Médaille de la Valeur Militaire'' was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Denis Favier
Denis Favier (born May 18, 1959) is a French officer known for commanding the mission to remove hijackers from Air France Flight 8969. From 2013 to 2016, he has been the General-Director of the French Gendarmerie. Favier was born on 18 May 1959 in Lons-le-Saunier. In 1979 he joined the military academy of Saint-Cyr. In 1992 he was appointed commander of the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN). In 1994 he was promoted to ''chef d'escadron'' (major). In 1994, he commanded the assault against the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria, who had earlier taken the passengers of Air France Flight 8969 hostage. Following this incident, he gave interviews in silhouette or facial obscurity, which he still does until today as it was believed that the co-militants of the terrorists his team killed offered a reward for his assassination. In 2007, after various positions in the Gendarmerie, he was again appointed commander of the GIGN, which underwent restructuring. In 2008 he joined t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Police (France)
The National Police (french: Police nationale), formerly known as the , is one of two national police forces of France, the other being the National Gendarmerie. The National Police is the country's main civil law enforcement agency, with primary jurisdiction in cities and large towns. By contrast, the National Gendarmerie has primary jurisdiction in smaller towns, as well as in rural and border areas. The National Police comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior and has about 145,200 employees (as of 2015). Young French citizens can fulfill their mandatory service ('' Service national universel'') in the police force. The National Police operates mostly in cities and large towns. In that context, it conducts security operations such as patrols, traffic control and identity checks. Under the orders and supervision of investigating magistrates of the judiciary, it conducts criminal inquiries and serves search warrants. It also maintains specific services ('ju ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loyada
Loyada ( ar, لويعدا , so, Lowyacadde) is a small town in Djibouti. Located in the Arta Region, it is the only official border crossing from Djibouti into Somaliland. It is situated on the west coast of Gulf of Aden, from the capital, Djibouti. Etymology The name of the town derives from Afar ''Lē-ʿádu'' or ''Lē-ʿadó'', which means "white watering-place" and in Somali became ''Loowyaʿádde'', "with white calves", by cacography. The French colonial authorities wrote it "Loyada"; the standard Somali spelling is "Lawya caddo". History and politics During antiquity Loyada was part of the city-states that in engaged in a lucrative trade network connecting the merchants with Phoenicia, Ptolemaic Egypt, Greece, Parthian Persia, Saba, Nabataea, and the Roman Empire. Between Djibouti City and Loyada are a number of anthropomorphic and phallic stelae. The structures are associated with graves of rectangular shape flanked by vertical slabs. The Djibouti-Loyada stelae ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
