1st Para-commando Battalion

The 1st Para-Commando Battalion (also known as The Cheetahs) is an elite Commando unit in the Bangladesh Army, established in 1992 from the inspiration of Special Air Service. Headquartered in Sylhet, its raising Commanding Officer was Lieutenant Colonel Md. Zahurul Alam (retired as Brigadier General in 2010).

Though the Commando Battalion is headquartered in Sylhet, they are under the authority of the Army Headquarters. More specifically, their orders for mobilization is mandated by the Chief of the General Staff of the Bangladesh Army. The Commando Battalion constantly remains on standby so that they can be mobilized expeditiously without delay.

Duties
Commandos are trained to operate in any kind of missions at home and abroad. Their missions include (but are not limited to):


 * Amphibious warfare
 * Counter-insurgency
 * Counter-narcotics
 * Counter-terrorism
 * Covert insertions/extractions
 * Special reconnaissance
 * Hostage rescue and personnel recovery
 * Raids
 * Underwater demolition

Selection
Commandos are recruited from all corps of the Bangladesh Military (Infantry, Armored Corps, Artillery, etc.) and are trained in Bangladesh. Like Commandos of Armed Forces of other nations, they are set apart from other Military units by virtue of their rigorous training regimes. They are trained to perform not only in atmospheric conditions natural to Bangladesh, but also in areas such as deserts, jungles, icy fields and the like. However, owing to its primary nature of carrying out covert operations and since it is Special Forces, not much information is known or publicized about the activities of this elite group. Additionally, the training rigors of a Commando has been a closely guarded secret.

Hostage Crisis (Operation Thunderbolt)
On 1 July 2016, five assailants stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery with crude bombs, machetes, and pistols, in Dhaka's affluent neighborhood, Gulshan 2, which is extremely popular among expatriates and foreigners, at roughly 9:20 pm, taking hostage of the locals and foreigners inside. Not realizing the gravity of the situation, the initial assault to secure the premises, commenced by Dhaka Metropolitan Police, resulted in the casualties of two police officers in exchanging gun-fire with the assailants.

However, Police and the Rapid Action Battalion acted with celerity in setting up a perimeter around the Bakery to block escape of any assailant. After fruitless hours of seeking to bring a peaceful solution to the problem, when the perpetrators refused to communicate with authorities, the realization set that alternative measures were required.

At an early morning meeting on Saturday (2 July), the highest level of Government decided to engage the Commando Battalion. They were flown in from Sylhet to carry out a counterassault and free the hostages. After gathering intelligence from RAB and the Police forces present on the ground, Commandos initiated their raid (codenamed "Operation Thunderbolt"), which began at 7:40 am and concluded at 8:30 am. They were successfully able to free 13 hostages and kill the assailants.

During the attack, 9 Italians, 7 Japanese, 2 Bangladeshis, 1 Indian, and 1 American were killed by the perpetrators. During the operation one civilian, a chef at the bakery, was mistakenly killed by the commandos.