Agrupación de Fuerzas Especiales Antiterroristas Urbanas

Agrupación de Fuerzas Especiales Urbanas  (Spanish)
Official AFEUR Patch
Active 1985 - Present
Country Colombia Colombia
Allegiance Republic of Colombia
Branch Colombian Army
Type Special Forces
Role Special Operations
Size Classified
Garrison/HQ Military School of Communications Battalion, Facatativa, Colombia
Nickname(s) AFEUR, UCTSFG (In English)
Engagements Colombian Conflict
Insignia
Identification
symbol		 AFEUR Patch

The Urban Counter-Terrorism Special Forces Group, otherwise known as AFEUR (Spanish: Agrupación de Fuerzas Especiales Antiterroristas Urbanas) is an elite special operations unit within the Colombian Army, dedicated to performing counter-terrorism operations, HVT (High-Value Target) acquisition or elimination, and hostage rescue.

The unit is also used for protection of VIP's. They protect the Colombian President when he travels, and provided protection for President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush when they visited Cartagena in 2000 and 2004, respectively. They also provided the second security ring to President Bush's visit to Bogotá in 2007.

The full scope of this unit is not known, and the vast majority of its operations are blacklisted. Reports from the media and official sources state that this unit has been involved in every top profile operation against guerrilla groups, in both preventive strikes and emergency response actions in urban and semi-urban areas all across Colombia, though details are kept in secret.

AFEUR answers directly to the "General Command of the Armed Forces" ("Comando General de las Fuerzas Armadas"), and they are allowed to use any military air transportation to guarantee mobility, and to use any weapon or additional equipment as required to accomplish their missions.

History

Due to terrorist acts conducted in cities by guerrilla groups, the Colombian Army needed a specially trained unit to deal with this threat. This unit's intended design was to both operate and co-ordinate operations with other units of the army, and from other military branches.

Although Colombia's decades long conflict with guerrilla groups had given many reasons for such a unit to exist, two terrorist acts in particular worked as catalysts for the formation of the unit: the Dominican embassy siege in 1980, and the Palace of Justice siege in 1985.

In 2003, as the unit's experience grew, and its rate of success increased, the Colombian Government decided to establish and assign further units to main cities across the nation. Such units are smaller in size, are trained, and operated under a single entity by the name of AFEAU.

That same year, the Colombian Navy also deployed its own AFEUR unit attached to the Marine Corps. Although trained by the Army unit, the Navy unit specializes in underwater infiltration training akin to its amphibious nature. This unit is intended to have the same capabilities as its Army counterpart, and provide Special Forces support to other conventional Marine Corps units when operating in semi-urban areas.

Recruitment and training

Members of all branches of the Military of Colombia and the National Police are eligible to join AFEUR. Such personnel are required to have no criminal record, and are likely to have already received previous special operations training elsewhere, such as the Colombian Army’s Lancero course, or other training abroad.

Training takes place at the Colombian Army’s Communications School in Facatativá near Bogotá (which also serves as unit headquarters), and includes airborne operations, night operations, and close quarters combat. It is divided in two phases: the first phase focuses on teamwork, whilst the second focuses on special skills such as explosives training, paramedic training, sharpshooting and marksmanship, amongst others.

The main AFEUR group also shares training with Special Forces units from other countries - particularly with the U.S., due to the military cooperation agreement established between the two governments, and also perhaps with the UK (though at a lesser scope).

Commando Forces tournaments

AFEUR and associated AFEAU units have won the US-sponsored "Fuerzas Comando" (Commando Forces) contest nine times, in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

This yearly contest is sponsored by the US South Command and the US Special Operations Command, and is attended by similar teams from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, U.S., Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Dominican Republic, Peru and Uruguay.

Equipment

References

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