Special Intervention Detachment


The Special Intervention Detachment is a special forces unit of the Gendarmerie Nationale. It specializes in the fight against terrorism, the release of hostages and the close protection of high-ranking personalities.
In 2013, it participated in the release of several people during the In Amenas hostage crisis.

History

The DSI was created on August 27, 1989, by a presidential decree. It is elite unit of the Algerian gendarmerie. and the Algerian equivalent of the French GIGN.
It was established to confront the increase in crimes and criminals, especially in its mode of action, as it offers adapted intervention possibilities and additional tactical capacities.

Training

Probationary gendarmes spend a six-month internship with the unit, and after passing the test, at the end of the internship, the best ones will remain in the DSI unit for further training equivalent to 1,400 pedagogical hours. They will also go abroad to train with the major western special forces. They will have to follow intensive courses in all subjects and will be introduced to all the techniques specific to the unit, useful in the accomplishment of their mission. Diving courses, first aid, training courses for dog handlers, parachuting techniques, shooting techniques using explosives and close protection and combat sports, are on the menu of these daily sessions. They are supervised by real combat sports professionals.
They exchanged with several foreign counterparts, among them the Austrian unit EKO COBRA, the Jordanian Special Operation Forces and the Jordanian Gendarmerie and the French GIGN. The DSI has provided many promotions from African countries; training in intervention and close protection.
The operators are in almost permanent training and each member follows daily training. Shooting training is daily, each member can go to the shooting range whenever he wants. Shooting tests including timed, selective, accuracy, long distance, are evaluated by the instructors of the training cell, most of whom are experienced. The training operations of different scenarios, always with live ammunition, are reviewed and debriefed to correct each action and try to improve its technicality. They also often train at night under night vision on all types of situations in the 13 sites reserved for them. Helicopter-based exercises with recall techniques but also on fast driving and basic techniques in negotiations and hostage-taking. The DSI has provided training in intervention and close protection to a number of elite promotions from African countries.

Missions

The main tasks of the DSI are :

Organization

The DSI has several spacialized units, the units of the DSI are :

Main tasks

The DSI has carried out hundreds of operations since its creation, from the release of hostages to the arrest of forcible persons. Some of the most well-known operations include the following:
The DSI, like all special forces in the world, has specific equipment for each intervention. The DSI operators are equipped with the latest generation of modern equipment. The DSI is one of the best anti-terrorist units in Africa and the Mediterranean Basin.

Handguns

Terrestrial