The Counter-Terrorist Unit (, abbr. ПTJ / PTJ) was a

police tactical unit A police tactical unit (PTU) is a specialized police unit trained and equipped to handle situations that are beyond the capabilities of ordinary law enforcement units because of the level of violence (or risk of violence) involved. The tasks of a ...

of the Serbian Police. The PTJ was initially established within the

Gendarmery A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to "men-at-arms" (). In France and som ...

of the Police and in April 2007 was made an independent unit within the Police Directorate of the Police. As its name states, the PTJ was oriented towards anti-terror operations as well as securing and maintaining the internal security of

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. Often only used in operations deemed too dangerous for other police units, it was highly trained and equipped. The PTJ's responsibilities included: resolving hostage situations, anti-terrorist operations, high-profile arrests and

bomb disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are disabled or otherwise rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated fun ...

. Members of the PTJ operate with extreme professionalism and devotion to their responsibilities. This has earned the PTJ the great respect throughout the world as an elite special operations police unit among other such units.

History

In 2016, the unit was disbanded and most of its members were incorporated into the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (SAJ).

Equipment and training

Candidates were selected from the

Žandarmerija The Gendarmery () is the national gendarmerie force of Serbia, tasked with high-risk and specialized law enforcement duties. It is under the authority of the Police Directorate of the Serbian Police. History The word ''žandarmerija'' is a F ...

, who underwent rigorous physical evaluations before tactical training could begun. Lieutenant Colonel Dragović, the commander, stated in 2007 that out of 150 candidates only eight were selected in that year.Crvene beretke prošle proveru
''

Večernje novosti ''Večernje novosti'' ( sr-Cyrl, Вечерње новости; ''Evening News'') is a Serbian daily tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1953, it quickly grew into a high-circulation daily. ''Novosti'' (as most people call it for short) also employs ...

'', 5 January 2007 Members of the PTJ were expected to meet and excel the criteria set before them. Trainees were exposed to varying conditions that they might find in real life operations. PTJ training centres were located at Petrovo Selo near Kula and Goč near

Vrnjačka Banja Vrnjačka Banja ( sr-cyr, Врњачка Бања) is a town and municipality located in the Raška District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 9,252 inhabitants, while the population of the municipality is 25,065 inhabitants (2022 ce ...

. Weapons used include: *

CZ 99 The Zastava CZ99 is a semi-automatic pistol produced by Zastava Arms. It was developed in 1989 to replace the M57 in the Yugoslav military and police. The CZ99 is primarily chambered in 9×19mm Parabellum with a 15-round magazine, although .4 ...

Glock 17 Glock (; stylized as GLOCK) is a brand of polymer- framed, short-recoil-operated, striker-fired, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military an ...

Beretta Px4 Storm The Beretta Px4 Storm is a semi-automatic pistol intended for personal defense and law enforcement use. Design The Px4 uses a trigger and safety system similar to the Beretta 92 and the Beretta 8000 series, though it is distinguished from its p ...

Zastava M70 The Zastava M70 ( sr-Cyrl, Застава М70) is a 7.62×39mm assault rifle developed in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by Zastava Arms. The M70 was an unlicensed derivative of the Soviet Union, Soviet AK-47 (specifically the Type ...

M4 carbine The M4 carbine (officially Carbine, Caliber 5.56 mm, M4) is a 5.56×45mm NATO assault rifle developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle. The M4 is extensively used by the US mi ...

SIG Sauer SIG516 The SIG Sauer SIG516 is an assault rifle manufactured by SIG Sauer, chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO. History The SIG Sauer SIG516 shares lineage with the Heckler & Koch HK416. The principal firearms engineers for the SIG516 were Robert Hirt and Ch ...

Heckler & Koch MP5 The Heckler & Koch MP5 (, ) is a submachine gun developed in the 1960s by German firearms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. It uses a similar modular design to the Heckler & Koch G3, and has over 100 variants and clones, including selective fire, Se ...

Heckler & Koch UMP The Heckler & Koch UMP (''Universale Maschinenpistole'', German for "Universal Machine Pistol") is a submachine gun developed and manufactured by Heckler & Koch. Heckler & Koch developed the UMP as a lighter and cheaper successor to the Heckler & ...

FAMAS The FAMAS ( French: ''Fusil d'Assaut de la Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne'', lit. 'Assault rifle from the Saint-Étienne Weapon Factory') is a bullpup assault rifle designed and manufactured in France by MAS in 1978. It is known by ...

*DDR MpikM (AKM) rifle

Publicly known operations

In 13 operations across eight cities in

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, the PTJ arrested numerous members of the so-called "Customs Mafia". They detained known organized crime leaders such as

Sreten Jocić Sreten Jocić ( sr-cyrl, Сретен Јоцић; born 24 October 1962), also known as Joca Amsterdam ( sr-cyr, Јоца Амстердам), is a Serbian gangster from Velika Krsna who operated in the Netherlands. In June 2010 he was sentenced ...

from the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

; Dejan Milenković from

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

; Ridvan Rašitija from

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

; and extradited Abdelmajid Bouchar, (a member of "

Al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

" suspected in connection with the

2004 Madrid train bombings The 2004 Madrid train bombings (also known in Spain as 11M) were a series of coordinated, nearly simultaneous bombings against the Cercanías commuter train system of Madrid, Spain, on the morning of 11 March 2004—three days before Spain's ...

), to Spain. Others: *2007 - Arrested a large group of terrorists in an Islamic religious movement called the

wahhabi Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to other ...

on Mount Ninaja, killing one. *2009 - Hostage rescue in

Jagodina Jagodina ( sr-cyrl, Јагодина, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Pomoravlje District in central Serbia. It is situated on the banks of the Belica (river), Belica River, in the geographical region of � ...

(in central Serbia).Special police kill man holding family hostage
, ''

B92 RTV B92, or simply B92 (stylized as b92, formerly BΞ92 and B 92), is a Serbian news station and broadcaster with national coverage headquartered in Belgrade. Founded in 1989 as radio station, it was a rare outlet for Western news and informati ...

'', 29 March 2009

References

External links

Ministry of Internal Affairs
* {{Law enforcement in Serbia Law enforcement in Serbia Special forces of Serbia Non-military counterterrorist organizations Law enforcement units

History

Equipment and training

Publicly known operations

See also

References

External links