The Counter-Terrorist Unit ( sr, Противтерористичка јединица / Protivteroristička jedinica, abbr. ПTJ / PTJ) was a

police tactical unit A police tactical unit (PTU) is a specialized police unit trained to handle situations that are beyond the capabilities of ordinary law enforcement units because of the level of violence (or risk of violence) involved. A police tactical unit's tas ...

of the Serbian Police. The PTJ was initially established within the Gendarmery of the Police and in April 2007 was made an independent unit within the Police Directorate of the Police. As its name states, the PTJ was oriented towards anti-terror operations as well as securing and maintaining the internal security of

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

. Often only used in operations deemed too dangerous for other police units, it was highly trained and equipped. The PTJ's responsibilities included: resolving hostage situations, anti-terrorist operations, high-profile arrests and

bomb disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous Explosive device, explosive devices are rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functi ...

. Members of the PTJ operate with extreme professionalism and devotion to their responsibilities. This has earned the PTJ the great respect throughout the world as an elite special operations police unit among other such units. In 2016, the unit was disbanded and most of its members were incorporated into the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (SAJ).

Equipment and training

Candidates were selected from the

Žandarmerija The Gendarmery ( sr, Жандармерија, Žandarmerija) is the national gendarmerie force of the Republic of Serbia. It is under the authority of the Police Directorate of the Serbian Ministry of Interior and was formed on 28 June 2001, aft ...

, who underwent rigorous physical evaluations before tactical training could begun. Lieutenant Colonel Dragović, the commander, stated in 2007 that out of 150 candidates only eight were selected in that year.Crvene beretke prošle proveru
'' Večernje novosti'', 5 January 2007 Members of the PTJ were expected to meet and excel the criteria set before them. Trainees were exposed to varying conditions that they might find in real life operations. PTJ training centres were located at Petrovo Selo near Kula and Goč near

Vrnjačka Banja Vrnjačka Banja ( sr-cyr, Врњачка Бања) is a town and municipality located in the Raška District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 10,065 inhabitants, while the population of the municipality is 27,527 inhabitants. Vrnja ...

. Weapons used include: *

CZ 99 The Zastava CZ99 is a semi-automatic pistol produced by Zastava Arms. It was developed in 1989 to replace the M57 in the Yugoslav military and police. The frame design was influenced by the SIG P226 albeit with some ambidextrous controls like ...

Glock 17 Glock is a brand of polymer-Receiver (firearms), framed, Recoil operation#Short recoil operation, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H., Glock Ges.m.b.H. The ...

* Beretta Px4 Storm *

Zastava M70 The Zastava M70 ( sr-Cyrl, Застава М70) is a 7.62x39mm assault rifle. Developed in Yugoslavia by Zastava Arms during the 1960s, the M70 was an unlicensed derivative of the Soviet AK-47 (specifically the Type 3 variant). It became the st ...

M4 carbine The M4 carbine (officially Carbine, Caliber 5.56 mm, M4) is a 5.56×45mm NATO, gas-operated, magazine-fed carbine developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle. The M4 is extensively ...

SIG Sauer SIG516 The SIG Sauer SIG516 is a semi-automatic rifle manufactured by SIG Sauer. It is an AR-15 style rifle chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO. Introduced in 2010, the SIG516 was discontinued as of 2019. A variant chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO, the SIG716i, re ...

Heckler & Koch MP5 The Heckler & Koch MP5 (german: Maschinenpistole 5) is a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. There are over 100 variants and clones of the MP5, ...

Heckler & Koch UMP The Heckler & Koch UMP (''Universale Maschinenpistole'', German for "Universal Machine Pistol") is a submachine gun developed and manufactured by Heckler & Koch. Heckler & Koch developed the UMP as a lighter and cheaper successor to the MP5, thoug ...

FAMAS The FAMAS (''Fusil d'Assaut de la Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne'', "Assault Rifle from the Saint-Étienne Weapon Factory") is a bullpup assault rifle designed and manufactured in France by MAS in 1978, a year after the Austrian Steyr ...

*DDR MpikM (AKM) rifle

Publicly known operations

In 13 operations across eight cities in

, the PTJ arrested numerous members of the so-called "Customs Mafia". They detained known organized crime leaders such as

Sreten Jocić Sreten Jocić ( sr-cyrl, Сретен Јоцић; born 24 October 1962), also known as Joca Amsterdam ( sr-cyr, Јоца Амстердам), is a Serbian gangster from Velika Krsna who operated in the Netherlands. He was sentenced to 15 years' im ...

from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

; Dejan Milenković from

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

; Ridvan Rašitija from

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

; and extradited Abdelmajid Bouchar, (a member of "

Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

" suspected in connection with the

2004 Madrid train bombings The 2004 Madrid train bombings (also known in Spain as 11M) were a series of coordinated, nearly simultaneous bombings against the Cercanías Madrid, Cercanías commuter train system of Madrid, Spain, on the morning of 11 March 2004—three days ...

), to Spain. Others: *2007 - Arrested a large group of terrorists in an Islamic religious movement called the

wahhabi Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic revivalist and fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabian Islamic scholar, theologian, preacher, an ...

on Mount Ninaja, killing one. *2009 - Hostage rescue in

Jagodina ) , image_shield = Jagodina-grb.png , image_flag = FLAG Jagodina.png , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_map = File:Municipalities of Serbia Jagodina.png , map_caption = Location of Jagodina w ...

(in central Serbia).Special police kill man holding family hostage
, ''

B92 RTV B92, or simply B92 (stylized as b92, formerly BΞ92 and B 92), is a Serbian news station and broadcaster with national coverage headquartered in Belgrade. Founded in 1989 as radio station, it was a rare outlet for Western news and informati ...

'', 29 March 2009

References

External links

Ministry of Internal Affairs
* {{Law enforcement in Serbia Law enforcement in Serbia Special forces of Serbia Non-military counterterrorist organizations Law enforcement units

Equipment and training

Publicly known operations

See also

References

External links