In a brilliant tactical operation undertaken by the troops of Indian and Malaysian armies in the jungles of Hulu Langat, the last camp of the 'Malaysian Revolutionary Army' has been 'destroyed'.
The last few days had been crucial. Intelligence had been collected over the past five days leading to identification of the movement, the routes and the activities of the enemy. At the joint command, the Indians and Malaysians collated and synthesised the information and drew a tactical picture.
Preparations for the final attack began on May 10. A close target recce was undertaken by subunit commanders. “This was an extremely sensitive operation and involved closing in on enemy camp while maintaining utmost stealth and secrecy,” informed Col. Aman Anand, spokesman for the Indian army. The troops moved in to their locations at night. The final blow on the enemy, witnessed by Brigadier General Abdul Malik Bin Jiran of the Malaysian Army, Col Aman Anand and Col Anirudh Chauhan, the military attache in the Indian mission in Kuala Lumpur, was swift, well-coordinated and violent to ensure that the target was decimated in no time.
Brigadier General Abdul Malik bin Jiran addresses troops at closing ceremony
Well, that wasn't real war, but a joint exercise only. All the same, Harimau Shakti or Tiger Force (Harimau is the Malay word for tiger), the joint two-week two-phase jungle war training in the tropical rainforests of Hulu Langat in Malaysia was undertaken with all the zeal and seriousness of a real operation.
As the exercise concluded with singing of national anthems, ceremonial removal of exercise arm bands, return of regimental flags, raising of regimental war cries, and singing of prayers, the contingent commanders – Col S.N. Karthikeyan of India's 4 Grenadiers and Lt Col Irwan Bin Ibrahim of Malaysia's 1 Royal Rangers – found that they had learnt a lot from each other. The Malays impressed the Indians with their tactical soldiering skills, amazing ability to live off the land, navigation skill in jungles, ability to use natural resources for operational needs, expertise in booby trap clearance and combat tracking, and physical and mental robustness; the guests impressed the Malays as quick learners of new drills and procedures, and with their exceptional firing skills, innovation and ingenuity in conducting operations, better understanding of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and so on.
This was the Indian Army's first training experience with the Malaysians who are still proud of their reputation as one of the few armies that had completely beaten an insurgency. The legendary counter-insurgency skills developed by them during the Malay Emergency of the 1960s have since been further honed are jealously guarded by its elite battalions.