The Special Intervention Group (, GIS) is an Algerian

special forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

unit created in 1987, initially with 400 members.

History

Since 1992, GIS forces have operated within the context of violent confrontation between the

Algerian government Politics of Algeria takes place in a framework of a constitutional semi-presidential republic, whereby the President of Algeria is head of state while the Prime Minister of Algeria is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the go ...

and

Islamic militants ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' (), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' (), an Arabic term that broadly refers to people who engage in ''jihad'' (), interpreted in a jurisprudence of Islam as the fight on behalf of God, religion or the commun ...

; major

human rights violations Human rights are universally recognized moral principles or norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both national and international laws. These rights are considered inherent and inalienable, meaning t ...

against

civilian A civilian is a person who is not a member of an armed force. It is war crime, illegal under the law of armed conflict to target civilians with military attacks, along with numerous other considerations for civilians during times of war. If a civi ...

s have been alleged against both sides. A resulting

arms embargo An arms embargo is a restriction or a set of sanctions that applies either solely to weaponry or also to "dual-use technology." An arms embargo may serve one or more purposes: * to signal disapproval of the behavior of a certain actor * to maintain ...

against Algeria initially prevented the GIS from obtaining equipment such as night-vision goggles typical for such units. However, after the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, western ''

matériel Materiel or matériel (; ) is supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context. Military In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers eith ...

'' vendors were allowed to sell equipment to Algeria in the name of the international War on Terrorism.

Responsibility and training

A sub-unit of the Département du Renseignement et de la Sécurité (DRS), it is responsible for black operation, capture or kill high-value targets, counterterrorism and hostage rescue crisis management, executive protection, and special warfare. It is based in Algiers and has a base at

Blida Blida () is a city in Algeria. It is the capital of Blida Province, and it is located about 45 km south-west of Algiers, the national capital. The name ''Blida'', i.e. ''bulaydah'', is a diminutive of the Arabic word ''belda'', city. Ge ...

, 50 km (31 miles) from Algiers. The Special Intervention Group (GIS) made several elaborate training courses in various domains (air assault, close-quarters battle, combat diving, commando style raids, counterterrorism and hostage rescue crisis management, defusing and disposal of bombs, field intelligence gathering, parachuting, reconnaissance, SERE, sniping, tactical driving, tactical medical emergency, and other things related to special warfare) to the Officers' training school of the special troops (EATS) in Algeria, without forgetting the training in the highly rated of the Alpha Group of Russia. The men of the GIS are trained in the Japanese martial arts

Ju-Jitsu Jujutsu ( , or ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu (both ), is a Japanese martial art and a system of close combat that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdue one or more weaponless or armed and armored opponent ...

and the Korean martial arts Kuk Sool Won, but in a purely military aspect.

Firearms

; Assault rifle * AKM *

Steyr AUG The Steyr AUG () is an Austrian bullpup assault rifle chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO intermediate cartridge, designed in the 1960s by Steyr-Daimler-Puch, and now manufactured by Steyr Arms GmbH & Co KG. The AUG was adopted by the Austri ...

* Heckler and Koch G36 ;Machine guns *

PKM machine gun The PK (, transliterated as ''Pulemyot Kalashnikova'', or "Kalashnikov's machine gun"), is a belt-fed general-purpose machine gun, chambered for the 7.62×54mmR rimmed cartridge. The modernized and most commonly known variant, known as the PKM, ...

;SMG *

Beretta M12 The Beretta M12 (Model 12) is a 9×19mm Parabellum caliber submachine gun designed by Beretta. Production started in 1959, the first users were the Italian Carabinieri, Italian State Police and the Guardia di Finanza, though in limited numbers; i ...

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 MP7 The Heckler & Koch MP7 (German: ''Maschinenpistole 7'') is a personal defense weapon chambered for the HK 4.6×30mm armor-piercing cartridge designed by German defence manufacturer Heckler & Koch. History It was designed (together with the ...

;Sniper rifle *

Dragunov sniper rifle The SVD (СВД; ), GRAU index 6V1, is a semi-automatic designated marksman rifle/sniper rifle chambered in the 7.62×54mmR cartridge, developed in the Soviet Union. History The SVD was designed to serve in a squad support role to provide pre ...

Remington 700 The Remington Model 700 is part of a series of bolt-action (later semi-automatic 7400 series) centerfire rifles manufactured by Remington Arms since 1962. It is a progressive variant of the Remington Model 721 and Model 722 rifles series, wh ...

;Shotguns *

Franchi SPAS-12 The Franchi SPAS-12 is a combat shotgun manufactured by Italian firearms company Franchi from 1979 to 2000. The SPAS-12 is a dual-mode shotgun, adjustable for semi-automatic or pump-action operation. The SPAS-12 was sold to military and police ...

;Pistols *

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 92 The Beretta 92 (also Beretta 96 and Beretta 98) is a series of semi-automatic pistols designed and manufactured by Beretta of Italy. History Carlo Beretta, Giuseppe Mazzetti and Vittorio Valle, all experienced firearms designers, contributed to ...

* Beretta 93R * Browning Hi Power * Caracal pistol

References

Military counterterrorist organizations Special forces of Algeria Terrorism in Algeria Military units and formations established in 1987 1987 establishments in Algeria Military units and formations disestablished in 2016 2010s disestablishments in Algeria {{Africa-mil-stub