KUALA LUMPUR:The nickname ‘Silent Killers’ was given to the Senoi Praaq General Operations Force (PGA) by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for their agility, courage, supreme jungle skills and fearlessness in facing the enemy.
Sergeant Baharuddin Ramli, 54, who was killed and his colleague Sergeant Norihan a/l Tari, 39, who was seriously injured in a shootout with a group of smugglers, about 600 metres from the TS9 control post in Padang Besar, Perlis on Tuesday, were members of the PGA Battalion 3 based in Bidor, Perak.
PGA Battalion 3 commander, Supt Rosman Kasman told Bernama it all started when the Senoi Praaq, which means 'War People', were assigned to Southern Thailand in 1960 to persuade more than 3,000 Orang Asli living there to hunt down communist leader Soo Ah Chye.
He said the Department of Orang Asli Affairs (JHEOA) director Lt Col R.O.D. Noone, the founder of the Senoi Praaq, along with a group of Senoi Praaq members were sent to Pleiku, Vietnam in 1964 at the request of the country's leaders at that time to train the indigenous groups there.
They were asked to train them on ways to oppose the communists in a ‘heart and mind’ manner as had been successfully carried out in this country while fighting the communists during the emergency.
"They are responsible for forming the Montagnard Scouts team under the CIA-led MSP (Mountain Scout Programme) in co-operation with BRIAM (British Advisory Mission).
"That's where they got the title 'The Silent Killers' by the CIA and they were also used secretly in carrying out covert missions in Laos," Rosman said.
After 11 months of carrying out the secret missions, the Senoi Praaq team returned home and fought the enemy on the way home.
"Many members of Senoi Praaq were also killed on the way back and the incident was immortalised in a book entitled Death Waits in the Dark: the Senoi Praaq, Malaysia's Killer Elite," he said.
Recalling the history of the establishment of the elite unit in May 1956 by Noone, it was made at the instructions of the British authorities based on the need to have an Orang Asli group to operate in the deep jungle to win the hearts of the Orang Asli who were believed to have been influenced by communist propaganda at the time.
Besides that, he said, in 1957, the British Army 22 Special Air Service Regiment (SAS) had conferred recognition to the Senoi Praaq unit via the wearing of the 'Red Beret' at its outstanding success in every operation to eradicate the communists.
Since the establishment of the Senoi Praaq unit, he said various successes were recorded and they were involved in numerous operations including Op Bamboo which was the oldest operation carried out by the national security forces.
It was launched in October 1959 in Perak and ended on Dec 2, 1989 after a peace agreement was signed.
"As we know, Op Bamboo's assignment was to curb the movement and destroy the threat of the country's number one enemy at the time, the communists.
‘’This was where Senoi Praaq's expertise was needed to help track down the communists in the thick jungle," he said.
Although the communist threat had ended, the services of the Senoi Praaq were always needed in maintaining the security and sovereignty of the country at its borders as well as participating in missions to find and rescue missing people in the jungle.
"Among them, a Senoi Praaq team was involved in a search mission for an Irish-French teenager, Nora Anne Quoirin who went missing in Negeri Sembilan in August last year. They are also roped in to track down poachers who damaged the flora and fauna in October last year," he said.
-- BERNAMA
Bernama
Thu Nov 26 2020
The nickname Silent Killers was given to the Senoi Praaq General Operations Force (PGA) by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). - foto BERNAMA
Kes demam denggi meningkat pada ME16, empat kematian dilaporkan
Kes demam denggi dilaporkan meningkat kepada 2,321 kes pada Minggu Epidemiologi ke-16 (ME16) iaitu bagi tempoh 14 April hingga 20 April lepas.
Nor Farah Ain tidak percaya bergelar juara dunia
Atlet boling pada negara Nor Farah Ain Abdullah masih tidak percaya sudah bergelar juara dunia pada penampilan sulungnya di Kejohanan Boling Padang Dalam Dewan Dunia 2024 di Guernsey, Channel Islands
Program Jana Wibawa dilaksana selepas dapat persetujuan Jemaah Menteri - Saksi
Mahkamah Sesyen di sini hari ini diberitahu bahawa cadangan mengenai Jana Wibawa telah dibawa ke mesyuarat untuk pertimbangan sebelum Jemaah Menteri memutuskan supaya program itu diteruskan pada 2020.
[TERKINI] Sidang Media Perdana Menteri di Riyadh, Arab Saudi
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim mengadakan sidang media susulan lawatan kerja rasmi ke Mesyuarat Khas WEF 2024 di Riyadh Arab Saudi.
SPR keluar 188 kertas undi pos bagi PRK Kuala Kubu Baharu
Pengeluaran kertas undi pos itu dilakukan oleh petugas pilihan raya yang dilantik Pegawai Pengurus dengan kehadiran ejen undi pos daripada semua empat calon yang bertanding.
Video disalah sunting, Teo Nie Ching buat laporan polis
Teo berkata pilihan raya bukanlah tiket untuk mana-mana pihak menyebarkan fitnah dengan niat mencetuskan perbalahan antara masyarakat pelbagai kaum dan agama.
KDN muktamad pembelian empat helikopter untuk APMM bernilai RM600 juta
Kertas kerja bagi perolehan aset itu sudah diserahkan kepada Kementerian Kewangan untuk keputusan akhir.
Tulis ancaman bom atas bungkusan, pekerja stor didenda RM3,000
Muhammad Rozali Rahim, 23, membuat pengakuan itu ketika pertuduhan terhadapnya dibacakan di hadapan Majistret Muhammad Bukhori Md Ruslan.
Kempen PRK KKB lancar setakat ini - Polis Selangor
Kempen PRK DUN KKB yang memasuki hari ketiga hari ini berjalan lancar dan tiada sebarang insiden tidak diingini dilaporkan setakat ini.
Buletin AWANI Khas: Asia Barat sedang ‘Stress’: Dialog menteri-menteri dunia Arab
Situasi meruncing di Gaza, konflik Iran-Israel dan ditambah pula persaingan kuat dua kuasa, Amerika Syarikat dan China dilihat terus membayangi percaturan geopolitik dan geoekonomi negara-negara Islam di Asia Barat. Beberapa Menteri Luar negara-negara Arab duduk sepentas di Mesyuarat Khas WEF, Riyadh dalam sesi ini.
#SpecialMeeting24
#SpecialMeeting24
Pesara polis boleh jadi mata dan telinga PDRM
Ia akan memudahkan pihak polis mengambil tindakan segera terutamanya di kawasan pedalaman.
Senoi Praaq bantu operasi cari kanak-kanak Orang Asli hilang
Seramai 12 pegawai dan anggota Senoi Praaq dibawa dari Batalion 3 Pasukan Gerakan Am (PGA) Bidor.
Orang Perang tangkas menjejak dalam hutan
Kehandalan, ketangkasan dan kecekapan Orang Asli dalam ilmu perhutanan menjadikan masyarakat itu sebagai pilihan utama PDRM.
PGA hasrat bina stadium mini, tugu peringatan Sarjan Baharuddin
Kecintaan serta minat mendiang dalam sukan bola sepak sangat mendalam bermula sebagai pemain sehingga menjadi ketua pasukan dan jurulatih pasukan Batalion 3.
Pejuang kemerdekaan kini terlantar akibat angin ahmar
Husin Sani, 81, kini dijaga secara bergilir-gilir oleh 23 anaknya kerana beliau tidak mampu lagi menguruskan diri dan terpaksa diberikan minuman susu menerusi tiub.
Boleh bantu cari Nora Anne, walaupun gunakan kaedah mistik - Polis
Sekiranya ada sumber bantuan, kita akan menerima apa sahaja jenis bantuan daripada orang kampung mahupun sesiapa sahaja.
500 anggota PGA termasuk 'Senoi Praaq' dikerah bantu Ops Belang - KPN
Seramai 1,000 anggota dari Pasukan Gerakan Am (PGA) telah dikerahkan untuk membantu anggota penguatkuasa Jabatan Perlindungan Hidupan Liar dan Taman Negara (Perhilitan) dalam Ops Belang.