''Brigada Antiteroristă'' (, the ''

Counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or ...

Brigade'', BAT) is a tactical

special operations Special operations (S.O.) are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special operations may include ...

unit of the

Romanian Intelligence Service The Romanian Intelligence Service ( ro, Serviciul Român de Informații, abbreviated SRI) is Romania's main domestic intelligence service. Its role is to gather information relevant to national security and hand it over to relevant institutions, ...

(''Serviciul Român de Informaţii'').

History

The unit was established on December 15, 1977 under the name of ''Unitatea Specială de Luptă Antiteroristă'' (''Special Counter-terrorism Unit'', USLA) as a result of the emergence of

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

threats that were directly or indirectly aimed at

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

. USLA confronted attempts by members or sympathizers of different

terrorist organizations A number of national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and fo ...

to enter Romania. These organizations did not limit themselves to precursory acts of preparing violent actions, but they also tried to organize

terrorist attacks The following is a list of terrorist incidents that have not been carried out by a state or its forces (see state terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism). Assassinations are listed at List of assassinated people. Definitions of terrori ...

, the targets generally being foreign official representatives in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

. On May 26, 1985, two Arab terrorists placed explosive devices under the cars belonging to Syrian students' leaders, in the Grozăveşti Campus parking lot in Bucharest. Two USLA officers were killed by the blast of the device while trying to defuse it. USLA units were involved in the violent crackdown of anti-communist demonstrations during the Romanian Revolution of 1989 On December 24, 1989, the USLA was called upon by the new Defence Minister Nicolae Militaru to protect the site of the Ministry of Defence from alleged terrorist attacks. The tanks guarding the site opened fire and killed eight officers, while the other six survivors were arrested and one fled. This deadly hoax was used by the new authorities to claim that the terrorist threat really existed.''Mafia statală: 13. Rădăcina busuiocului''
Dezvăluiri.ro
/ref> On the December 26, 1989, the USLA was attached to the Romanian Ministry of Defence. On July 1, 1990, the name of the unit was changed to ''Brigada Antiteroristă'' and incorporated into the newly created

(SRI). On August 20, 1991, four Sikh terrorists attempted to assassinate the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n ambassador while he walked with his wife on the ''Aviatorilor Blvd.'' in

. The quick intervention of anti-terrorist officers guarding the ambassador resulted in failure for the terrorists: one was killed on the spot, another was captured, the third was injured and the fourth person vanished. The criminal investigation revealed that the four terrorists belonged to an Indian Sikh terrorist group.

Current activities

At present, there is an increased flow of information shared with partner-foreign services tasked with fighting terrorism. Backed up by state-of-the-art equipment and counter-terrorism tactics, the unit is always on the alert. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, the Inspectorate for Preventing and Fighting Terrorism was confronted with new challenges. To tackle the new terrorist threats, specialized units of the Romanian Intelligence Service implemented special plans designed for such circumstances.

References

External links

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History of the Counter-terrorist Brigade on the SRI website
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dead link *
Qualifications required to be a member of USLA
dead link {{DEFAULTSORT:Brigada Antiterorista Romanian Intelligence Service Special forces of Romania Terrorism in Romania Romanian Revolution 1977 establishments in Romania