Indian Army raises another battalion of Para SF known as 'Thunderbolt 13'

Source : IgMp Bureau

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IgMp has learnt that on first of May this year, the Indian Army raised another battalion of Special Forces, the 13th Para Special Forces (SF) also known as Thunderbolt 13.

Before the raising of this new battalion of Special Forces, the Army had total 9 battalions 1 2 3 4 9 10 11 12 and 21 of Special Forces.

Although not much information about this battalion is there in the open source but choosing the number 13 indicates this is yet another dreaded covert battalion of the PARA SF much like the 9 PARA SF which was famously known as the ‘Ghost Battalion’ of the Indian Army.

Para SF is famous for its cross border surgical strikes inside Myanmar in 2015 against North East militant organizations in retaliation of terror attack on Army convoy just few months before that. Then in 2016, Para SF again conducted cross border surgical strike inside Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) terror camps to avenge the killing of 16 soldiers in Uri Indian Army base camp.

Many in the Defence circles believe that the raising of 13th Para SF batallion may be an indication of India's great game at the border areas especially with the Northern Adversary. The creation of this new Para SF brigade raises many questions, whether India is preparing for Special operations inside Aksai Chin and the opposite sides of the LAC deep inside Tibet Autnomous Region (TAR) to deter Chinese hegemonic moves in the future as the codename 'Thunderbolt 13' reflect the operation types of the newly raised force. They will do operations like thunder and meet objectives as fast as possible in a blitzkrieg mission.

Only time will tell, how India will use its new force of 'Fear' at border areas, but one thing is for sure, that India is planning something big or unique to take on its adversaries and that too by 'the element of surprise' like in the past.