The National Guard Special Unit, commonly abbreviated USGN , is the Tunisian

Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...

 National Guard

National Guard

The term National Guard originally referred to a French citizen militia . The term is now used in many countries. Depending on the country in question, "national guard" may refer to an organized militia, a military force, a paramilitary force, a gendarmerie, or a police force:- Americas :* National...

's elite counter-terrorism

Counter-terrorism

Counter-terrorism is the practices, tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, militaries, police departments and corporations adopt to prevent or in response to terrorist threats and/or acts, both real and imputed.The tactic of terrorism is available to insurgents and governments...

 paramilitary

Paramilitary

A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....

 tactical unit. USGN is trained to rescue citizens and allies who are held by a hostile force foreign or domestically, either terrorist or criminal.

USGN’s purpose is to serve as the Tunisian governments premier counter-terrorism unit, offering a tactical resolution option in hostage

Hostage crisis

A hostage crisis develops when one or more terrorists or criminals hold people against their will and try to hold off the authorities by force, threatening to kill the hostages if provoked or attacked....

 and high-risk law enforcement situations. USGN functions as a national SWAT

SWAT

A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...

team in highly sensitive or dangerous situations.

History

This 50 man force was established in the early 1980s and is broken down into two operational sections and a headquarters element. Based in Hammamet, they have responsibility for CT operations at government and diplomatic buildings, aircraft hijackings and maritime situations. In the event of a major operation, the USGN would be reinforced by the Groupment de Commando of the Garde National (National Guard's Commando Company - GCGN).

Groupement de Commando de la Garde Nationale (GCGN)

The GCGN is a 150-man force which has received extensive counterterrorist training and would provide perimeter security in the event of a major terrorist incident. Based at National Guard Headquarters near the Tunis Airport, they respond to high criminal threats and have operated on the Tunisian/Algerian border on numerous occasions.

Training

• Weapons Handling
• Combat shooting and marksmanship training
• Airborne courses, such as HALO or HAHO jumps, paragliding, and heliborne insertions.
• Combat/Underwater swimming, diving and assault of ships.
• Hand to Hand combat training
• Undercover surveillance and stalking (support in investigating cases)
• Infiltration and escape techniques
• Explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) and NRBC devices neutralization
• Survival and warfare in tropical, arctic, mountain and desert environments.
• Diplomacy skills, such as negotiating.