The Incredible Story of France's Elite Counter-Terrorism Unit - The GIGN

The founding of one of the world's most elite counter-terrorism units.

The Groupe d'intervention de la Gendarmerie nationale, or GIGN, is one of the world's most elite counter-terrorism units. Founded in 1973, the GIGN was created in response to the Munich Olympics massacre in 1972, which saw Palestinian terrorists take 11 Israeli athletes hostage, resulting in the deaths of all hostages and five terrorists.

The French government recognized the need for a highly trained and specialized unit to handle such situations and tasked Lieutenant Colonel Paul Barril, a former paratrooper, with creating such a unit. Barril assembled a team of experts from various military and law enforcement units, including the Parachute Chasseur Regiment, the Navy Commandos, and the French National Police's Intervention Group.

The GIGN's training was rigorous and comprehensive, covering a wide range of skills, including marksmanship, hand-to-hand combat, and negotiation tactics. The unit's members were trained to operate in a variety of environments, including urban, rural, and maritime, and to respond to a wide range of threats, including hostage situations, hijackings, and terrorist attacks.

The GIGN quickly proved its worth, successfully resolving several high-profile hostage situations in the 1970s and 1980s, including the Ouvéa cave hostage crisis in New Caledonia and the hijacking of a French airliner by Algerian terrorists.

Today, the GIGN remains one of the world's most highly regarded counter-terrorism units, renowned for its expertise and professionalism. The unit continues to evolve and adapt to new threats, regularly updating its training and equipment to stay at the cutting edge of counter-terrorism operations.