The Tunisian Army Special Forces Group (GFS)
is one of the most highly trained and well equipped Special Forces in Africa
The GFS main mission is the protection of the Tunisian national territory
and to deter any attempt of foreign aggression
They are trained to defend the homeland
and to intervene in a cold-blooded manner to protect human lives
They are also trained to handle heavy weapons
As a testament to their training,
the Tunisian Army Special Forces Group have not failed in any assigned task
and has contributed immensely in foiling terrorist attacks
In March 2016
Islamic State
which has been taking advantage of the raging Libyan Civil War
in the neighboring country to recruit soldiers and increase its strength
began a series of tactical offensive into the Tunisian town of Ben Guerdane
During the attack,
about 50 Islamic State militants launched a dawn attack on army and police posts
The Tunisian Defense Minister quickly deployed the GFS
which immediately counter-attacked and killed 36 of the attackers
The Algerian Special Intervention Group
also known as the Groupe d’Intervention Spécial (GIS) in French
has long been one of Africa’s most-feared special forces
created in 1987 initially with 400 members
The GIS is better known in Algeria as the ‘Ninjas’
Mainly skilled in Counter-terrorism and Hostage Rescue
They have a reputation for cold-blooded ruthlessness
often times killing both the terrorists and hostages
in order to deter would-be terrorists from using hostages as a bargaining chip
In January 2013
the ‘Ninjas raided the oil facility near In Amenas, Algeria
that was attacked by al-Qaeda-linked terrorists
demanding an end to French military operations against Islamist in northern Mali
in return for the safety of the over 800 hostages
As a result, 39 foreign hostages from nine different countries lost their lives
However, a total of 685 Algerian workers and 107 foreigners
were freed while 39 terrorist were killed
Three surviving terrorists were also apprehended
The South African Special Forces Brigade also known as the Recces
is South Africa's principal special operations unit
specializing in various types of operations including
counter-insurgency,
long-range-reconnaissance
unconventional-warfare
special operations
hostage-rescue
and direct-action
The South African Special Forces Brigade was formed from the then Hunter Group
mainly for counter-insurgency operation within the South African Army
In 1970,
the success of the South African Special Forces Brigade brought about
five other reconnaissance units, later referred to as the “Recces”
The Recce undertook several daring missions
during the Bush War with Angola
some more prominent missions includes Operation Mebos
Operation Askari and the controversial Operation Argon
In Operation Askari
a few South African Special Forces soldiers entered Angola
in order to disrupt the logistical support
and command & control capabilities of PLAN
People’s Liberation Army of Namibia
Unit 777 (Sa'aka)
is an Egyptian special operations unit created in 1978
The Sa'aka is primarily tasked to conduct Special operations
and Counter Terrorism operations within Egypt and around its sphere of interest
The Sa'aka was established in 1978 following a disastrous
Egyptian commando raid in Larnaca International Airport, Cyprus
in response to the hijacking of a Cyprus Air passenger aircraft by terrorists
from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
The Unit 777 Sa'aka is currently engaged in anti-terror operations in the Sinai region
Its previous engagements includes
Operation Badr
Shdwan Battle
Battle of Ismailia
EgyptAir Flight 321
Operation Sinai
and Operation Martyr’s Right