The two special forces deployed by France against the wave of street terrorism

@DefAviation ES 7·02·2023 · 22:27 0

The wave of violence that is setting France on fire has already passed into the terrain of street terrorism and requires a proportional response.

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In the last few hours, the situation in the country has far exceeded the classification of vandalism. Images of shooting with Kalashnikov assault rifles, molotov cocktails thrown, a sniper with a precision rifle and attacks on police vehicles and public buildings. Given the serious threat that this poses to security, the National Police and the Gendarmerie have deployed their two best anti-terrorist units: the RAID and the GIGN.

The National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN) was founded on March 1, 1974. It is the French equivalent of the Special Intervention Unit (UEI) of the Spanish Civil Guard. One of its first operations, and perhaps its most famous, was the release of 30 hostages kidnapped by terrorists on a school bus in Djibouti in 1976. GIGN is considered one of the best special operations groups in the world. Its staff is less than 400 operators and is specialized in hostage-taking and the fight against terrorism.

The RAID (acronym for "Search, Assistance, Intervention, Deterrence", in French) was founded on October 23, 1985 as the special operations group of the French National Police. It is the French equivalent of the Special Operations Group (GEO) of the Spanish National Police. Like the GEO in Spain, RAID is in charge of guarding French diplomatic delegations in dangerous places. One of its most recent and well-known operations was the evacuation of Kabul in 2021. It also deals with counter-terrorism missions. It has a staff of about 450 operators.

You can see below some photos and videos of the current deployment of the GIGN and the RAID against the wave of street terrorism in France.

RAID operators subduing and taking into custody a motorcyclist who clashed with them in Marseille on June 30. In the video we see the policemen with a Brugger & Thomet GL06 40mm grenade launcher (can be used with marker, tear gas and irritating grenades to deal with riots) and Kel-Tec KSG and Remington M870 Police shotguns (source: Adrien Arbl).

Another intervention by RAID operators in Marseille, this Friday, June 30, to respond to shots against them. The RAID convoy was led by an Auverland A4 AVL 4x4 armored personnel carrier, also used by the French Army. In French military and police circles, this vehicle is known as PVP, which stands for Small Protected Vehicle (source: t.me/vorposter).

Three GIGN operators , in tactical gear and brown uniforms, in a photo released by the National Gendarmerie on June 30. As Phillipe Cheplaeu points out in Lignes de Défense, the GIGN has deployed operators in Seine-et-Marne, Essonne, Nantes, Toulouse, Tours and Avignon (photo: Gendarmerie Nationale).

RAID operators in Lille, northern France, on June 30. We see with them an Auverland A4 AVL armored car (photo: Kenzo Tribouillard / Pascal Bonnière).

A RAID member armed with a 12mm caliber Benelli M3T shotgun. He is leaning out of the upper hatch of an Auverland A4 AVL. The photo was taken in Lille, in the north of France. According to Lignes de Défense, the RAID has been deployed in Trappes, Élancourt, Garges-lès-Gonesse, Bobigny, Nice, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nancy, Lille, Strasbourg and Lyon, among other places (photo: Kenzo Tribouillard / Pascal Bonnière).

Another image of the RAID operator with a Benelli M3T shotgun . The photo was taken on the Boulevard Montebello in Lille on June 30 (photo: Kenzo Tribouillard / Pascal Bonnière).

RAID operators with an Auverland A4 AVL in Lille, on June 29. The operator on the vehicle is carrying a Benelli M3T shotgun. The operator on the left has a Brugger & Thomet GL06 40mm grenade launcher (photo: ACTU Forces De l´Ordre).

RAID operators at Place Bellecour in Lyon on July 1st. As a curiosity, the operator who appears in the foreground carries a high-powered flashlight, perhaps as a non-lethal device to break up riots (photo: Actu Lyon).

An Auverland A4 AVL from the RAID in Lyon. These vehicles, made in France, were acquired in 2005 to replace the Peugeot P4. The A4 AVL is armored against small arms and can even withstand low-powered improvised explosive devices (photo: Actu Lyon).

RAID operators with an Auverland A4 AVL in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, south-eastern France (photo: Préfète de police des Bouches-du-Rhône).

RAID members with an Auverland A4 AVL in a residential area. The operators wear military equipment, with armored helmets, bulletproof vests and unloading bags for used magazines (photo: Police Nationale).

RAID operators at a burning barricade. The operator on the right wears a patch depicting a Vepr-12 semi-automatic shotgun, a Russian-made weapon used by the RAID (photo: Police Nationale).

RAID has also deployed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to counter this wave of street terrorism. Here we see a RAID operator driving one of those drones (photo: Police Nationale).

Two RAID operators aboard a Yamaha Kodiak quad bike in Lille, northern France, on June 30. The RAID usually uses this type of vehicle for its pairings of select shooters (photo: Kenzo Tribouillard / Pascal Bonnière).

RAID operators carrying out arrests in Lille on June 30. The operator on the right is carrying a Remington M870 Police shotgun. The one on the left is carrying a Benelli M3 Super 90 shotgun (photo: KORD71).

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Main photo: Kenzo Tribouillard / Pascal Bonnière.