The military yesterday demonstrated three-dimensional anti-terror capabilities in an exercise simulating terrorist attacks on the country's largest private industrial zone in Mailiao township, Yunlin County.
In the exercise, special operations troops rappelled from a UH-1H helicopter and broke into an office building seized by "terrorists." It was a standard hostage rescue operation, which the military has not performed in public for many years.
The operation was conducted in coordination with special operations forces on the ground.
The UH-1H, which was the key to the operation, has been in service with the army for several decades and was considered too old to handle a difficult task such as the one yesterday.
The anti-terror exercise was the largest of its kind since counter-terror became a major concern of the government following the Sept. 11 terror attacks in New York and Washington two years ago. It took place at the Mailiao industrial zone, which is home to the country's largest chemical plant complex, Formosa Plastics Corp's Sixth Naphtha Cracker.
President Chen Shui-bian (
The military played a key role in the exercise, with other participating governmental agencies providing fire services and material assistance.
The simulation began with a terrorist attack on the chemical plant that resulted in a chemical leak causing heavy casualties.
The military, police and coast guard then worked together in the first large-scale joint exercise between the three services.
The military is the only one of the three that can handle large-scale chemical disasters. In the exercise, the 36th chemical group based in central Taiwan was tasked with setting up disinfection stations and medical centers.
Besides demonstrating its ability to handle chemical releases, the military also showcased its anti-terror troops for the first time in recent years.
The anti-terror troops were from a special operations unit of the 602nd airborne brigade.
The exercise outlined a direction that the military will move toward in the future. The military will restore in steps its anti-terror troops, which were greatly reduced several years ago.
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