IAF to raise commando force

After the army and the navy, the Indian Air Force will now have its own commando force by early 2004, according to sources in Hasimara. It will be called 'Garuda'.

"The members, drawn from the IAF, are now under training. They are expected to pass out in the next three or four months," sources told reporters visiting the air base in this town in West Bengal.

At present, 70 men are being trained by the National Security Guard, the Indo Tibetan Border Police and at the IAF's Paratrooper Training School at their facilities in Delhi, Chandigarh and Agra, respectively.