The Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) () is a tier two police tactical unit of the

Dhaka Metropolitan Police The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (; abbreviated as DMP) is the unit of Bangladesh Police responsible for law enforcement in the metropolis of Dhaka, the national capital and most populous city in Bangladesh. The DMP is the largest police force uni ...

(DMP) of the

Bangladesh Police The Bangladesh Police () is the national law enforcement agency of Bangladesh, operating under the Ministry of Home Affairs (Bangladesh), Ministry of Home Affairs. It plays a crucial role in maintaining peace, and enforcement of law and order with ...

. They operate under the Special Action Group of the

Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (, abbreviated as CTTC) is a specialized branch of the Bangladesh Police formed to tackle terrorism and transnational crime. Deputy Inspector General Md. Asaduzzaman bpm (bar) is the chief of the branch ...

(CTTC). The SWAT was formed to recover illegal arms and arrest hardcore

terrorists Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

and has a vital role in neutralizing any and all threats. The SWAT has been regularly deployed outside of Dhaka to respond to

terrorist incidents The following is a list of terrorist incidents that were not carried out by a State (polity), state or its forces (see state terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism). Assassinations are presented in List of assassinations and unsuccessful att ...

. The

plans to establish counterterrorism and hostage rescue unit similar to Bangladesh SWAT in all of the Metropolitan Police. A Crisis Response Team (CRT) has been established in

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

Sylhet Sylhet (; ) is a Metropolis, metropolitan city in the north eastern region of Bangladesh. It serves as the administrative center for both the Sylhet District and the Sylhet Division. The city is situated on the banks of the Surma River and, as o ...

and in

Rajshahi Rajshahi (, ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city and a major Urban area, urban, administrative, commercial and educational centre of Bangladesh. It is also the administrative seat of the eponymous Rajshahi Division, division and Rajshahi Distr ...

that were trained in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and in

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

History

The SWAT was established on 28 February 2009 as part of the

Detective Branch The Detective Branch (; abbreviated as DB) is a specialized unit of the Bangladesh Police. It mostly deals with investigative activities and special operations in sensitive cases and places. The main task of the detectives of this unit is to colle ...

of the DMP under the control of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner. The SWAT team was scheduled to be operational by March 1 of that year, ready for deployment both within

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

and, if necessary, beyond. The unit was designed to be more formidable than the Bangladesh Police's elite tactical unit, the

Rapid Action Battalion Rapid Action Battalion (; abbreviated as RAB) is an anti-crime and anti-terrorism unit of the Bangladesh Police. This elite force consists of members of the Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy, Bangladesh Air Force, Bangladesh Police, Border Guard ...

(RAB), and could be mobilized to deal with terrorist groups and high-level criminal threats. The SWAT completed a 45-day training program conducted by nine United States experts from the Army,

FBI SWAT FBI Special Weapons and Tactics (FBI SWAT) Teams are specialized part-time SWAT teams of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI maintains SWAT teams at each of its 55 field offices throughout the United States. Each team is composed ...

, and Police which was financed by the United States. The United States also provided equipment including

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 ...

SR-25 The SR-25 (Stoner Rifle-25) is a designated marksman rifle and semi-automatic sniper rifle designed by Eugene Stoner and manufactured by Knight's Armament Company. The SR-25 uses a rotating bolt and a Stoner bolt and carrier piston gas syste ...

AR-10 The ArmaLite AR-10 is a 7.62×51mm NATO battle rifle designed by Eugene Stoner in the late 1950s and manufactured by ArmaLite (then a division of the Fairchild (aircraft manufacturer), Fairchild Aircraft Corporation). When first introduced in 1956 ...

sniper rifles and

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 ...

pistols. In 2016, the SWAT was placed under the command of the newly formed

. In the same year, the SWAT had 50 members, with 20 new recruits to receive training in the United States with the SWAT aiming to expand to the unit to 100 members. In 2017, the United States

Bureau of Diplomatic Security The Bureau of Diplomatic Security, commonly known as Diplomatic Security (DS), is the security branch of the United States Department of State. It conducts international investigations, threat analysis, cyber security, counterterrorism, and pr ...

(DS), Anti-terrorism Assistance Program (ATA) trained nine SWAT instructors over 7 weeks who conducted two refresher Crisis Response Team courses for 42 SWAT members.

Operations

The SWAT was deployed for security during the

2008 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 29 December 2008. The two main parties in the election were the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Khaleda Zia, and the Bangladesh Awami League Party, led by Sheikh Hasina. The Bangladesh Awam ...

Pahela Baishakh Pohela Boishakh () is the Bengali New Year celebrated by the Bengalis, Bengali people worldwide and as a holiday on 14 April in Bangladesh and 15 April or 14 April (leap year) in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Jharkhand and Assam ( ...

and at Shaheed Minar during celebrations for

International Mother Language Day International Mother Language Day is a worldwide annual observance held on 21 February to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and to promote multilingualism. First announced by UNESCO on 17 November 1999, it was formally reco ...

. The SWAT has deployed to many terrorist or militant attacks, including outside of

in 2017 to

Chapainawabganj Chapai Nawabganj or Chapainawabganj District () is a district of Rajshahi Division. It is located in the north-western part of Bangladesh. The north and western-part of Chapainawabganj is bounded by Malda district, Malda and Murshidabad distr ...

for Operation "Eagle Hunt" and to

for Operation "Hit Back". In July 2016, the SWAT responded to the Holey Artisan Bakery terrorist attack in

Gulshan Thana Gulshan () is a thana situated in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is an affluent residential and business neighbourhood and is now home to a number of the city's restaurants, five star hotels, shopping centers, schools, banks, offices and members' clubs; ...

with eight SWAT members seriously injured.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swat (Bangladesh) Dhaka Metropolitan Police Non-military counterterrorist organizations Law enforcement in Bangladesh Counterterrorism in Bangladesh

History

Operations

See also

References