Force One, CISF to conduct joint exercise at Mumbai airport

In the wake of the recent Taliban attack on the Karachi airport in June, in which 30 people lost their lives, Force One (a unit of the city police) and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will be conducting a joint exercise between August 24 and 28.

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The main purpose of this exercise is to make the policemen aware of the vital installations at the city airport in case of an emergency or a terror strike. The exercise will be conducted at the airside (passenger-only area), followed by cargo, air traffic control (ATC) tower and all the terminals.

This is for the first time that the policemen will be explained in detail about important installations on the airside of the terminals. Though the Force One commandos will be introduced to the airside for the first time, they are already acquainted with the city side of the airports. During previous exercises, commandos were trained to tackle situations like terror strikes from outside the airports.

A senior police official said, "The first session of the exercise commenced four months ago as a precautionary measure citing attacks on airports across the world. Karachi, being India's neighbour, was attacked recently.

This operation is being conducted after the Force One unit approached the CISF to help it identify vulnerable areas in and around the city airports." Another official added that around 80 commandos would be part of the drill that will be conducted on any two days between August 24 and August 28.

Previous drills
Two sessions of a similar exercise were conducted in May. While the first session lasted for two hours from 1 am to 3 am, the second session went on from 8 pm to 3 am. A police official said that, after the sessions, the city police and CISF had made recommendations for better handling of emergency situations.

30
Number of people who were killed in the attack on Karachi airport in June this year