Guwahati, Jan. 9: Nearly 200 commandos of Assam police are being trained by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on specialised jungle warfare at the Commando Battalion in Mandakata in Kamrup district to take counter-insurgency strikes to the next level.

Assam director-general of police Mukesh Sahay, who visited Mandakata, about 43km from here, to take stock of the training, said, "Insurgents often use the terrains and forests to their benefit while ambushing on us. We too, need to up the level of training. We need to adapt to their attack techniques and give a befitting counter attack."

The commandos, today in the third week of the training, showed the DGP their mock drills on hostage rescue from moving vehicle and building, ambush and counter-ambush warfare and their skills on camouflage and concealment besides other fitness drills.

A team of trainers from the CRPF's base at Masimpur, near Silchar in Cachar district, came in November last year to train the experts of the commando battalion on the upgraded training sessions - counter insurgency and jungle warfare.

"Under the supervision of the experts, 194 commandos started the training process on December 12 last year. The training drill was for eight weeks. In the first six weeks they will be trained at the training facility while in the last two weeks they will be trained on the field," Bedanta Madhab Rajkhowa, commandant of the commando battalion, told The Telegraph here today.

The Assam Commando Battalion was raised in 1996 as an elite force to combat insurgency in Assam.

The headquarters of the battalion was first temporarily set up at Kahilipara, in the 4th Assam Police Battalion campus. It was later shifted to the Mandakata training facility, a sprawling 966- bigha land mostly comprising hillocks and undulating terrain covered by tropical forest.

A plot of land measuring 300 bighas was earmarked and allotted for establishing Counter Insurgency & Jungle Warfare School inside the Battalion campus, which is still under construction.

Rajkhowa said, "The commandos go through rigorous training sessions throughout the year. They follow a strict fitness regime, warfare tactics in unruly terrains and survival tactics in hostile conditions. The eight- week training session includes learning of several upgraded ways of attack, counter attack, use of technology and so on."

Sahay also inaugurated the DGP run, a 6.7km long track through water, rope way and unruly terrains. It will be added to the training routine of the commandos.