http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1063657.cms
'SSB strength to be doubled' NEW DELHI: Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), the country's youngest para-military force guarding the borders with Nepal and Bhutan, is to double its strength in the next two years. A go-ahead was given on Sunday by Union home minister Shivraj Patil. Patil, who took the salute at the force's 42nd anniversary day parade here, also said that the SSB's budget outlay had been increased by 47%, from Rs 360.49 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 532.77 crore this fiscal. At present, SSB has 25 battalions, each comprising 1,000 personnel. "I am happy to announce that the cabinet has approved raising of an additional 20 battalions, and two sector and one frontier headquarters for SSB," he said addressing the jawans. The country's borders with the two Himalayan kingdoms had been unguarded till recently. SSB was given the task of manning the 1,751-km border with Nepal in 2001 after the movement of Pakistan's ISI agents became known in the wake of Kargil and the Kandahar hijack in 1999. The spill-over of Maoists being targeted by Kathmandu has also posed a new challenge. Bhutan's monarch had personally led the Royal Bhutanese Army's personnel to evict large number of Indian insurgents and destroy their camps along the 661-km border in December 2003. But an estimated 2,000-plus militants escaped. Intelligence reports suggest that militants are again trying to re-establish the bases. Both sides are engaged in ensuring that the camps do not resurface. Patil said the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan borders "are very open...with people from either side moving freely across the border". He said SSB's deployment on the Indo-Bhutan border was "very thin", but with the addition of 20 more battalions in the next two years, "this gap will be plugged". -- Only amateurs attack machines; professionals target people. -- Bruce Schneier ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_OLuKD/8WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
