Special Actions Unit (Malaysia)

On 20 October 1997, the Royal Malaysia Police reorganised and setting back the VAT 69 and UTK, and coordinate them into one special operations command known as the Pasukan Gerakan Khas (PGK; 'Special Operations Command – Police SOCOM') and launched by the Prime Minister, Mahathir Muhammad and then Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Rahim Noor.[7]

Although amalgamated into one directorate, they are essentially still two separate entities operating in two distinct operational environments.

In 2016, main counter-terrorism operators in Malaysia are formed into one special operations task force.[8] Few operators from UTK are selected to be part of the National Special Operations Force.

UTK operators wear blueish shades (bordeaux colour) of maroon beret as it is wore by British Special Air Service in 1975 at that time. The maroon beret given by 22 SAS symbolised the UTK as a special forces unit.

On 14 November 2006, for the first time in the history of Royal Malaysian Police, the maroon and sand coloured berets of PGK were honoured as Royal Berets by Yang Dipertuan Agong Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putera Jamalullail, the then King of Malaysia.

It identifies the abilities of parachutist, airborne unit and air assault operations. The parachute wings are mostly worn by operators from Pasukan Gerakan Khas and can only be worn after they passes the Basic Tactical Parachuting Course (Malay: Kursus Asas Payung Terjun Tektikal).

UTK badge gets its influence from British Special Air Service badge and Malayan Scouts (now known as 22 SAS) badge as UTK were trained by the SAS.

Even though the unit is small, the UTK is composed of various teams with their own specialised duties and specialization. Publicly known teams under UTK are:

Prospective trainees are expected to exceed the minimum requirements of the Physical Screening Test (PST), which requires that trainees must be able to:

1. Run 2.4 km below 9 minutes
2. Freestyle swimming for at least 8-10 laps
3. Do at least 9-13 pull-up reps
4. Do at least 30 sit-up reps
5. Do at least 60 push-up reps
6. Do at least 30 squat thrusts

Candidates need to pass 14-day UTK selection process in Kuala Lumpur before the real course in Ulu Kinta, Perak and Maktab Teknik PDRM (MTPDRM; 'RMP Technical College'), Bakri, Muar, Johor.

Known as Kursus Asas UTK in Malay language, the basic course lasts for three months training period, which includes thirteen weeks of basic training and nine weeks of advanced training. This course is open to women. The attrition rate for this course is 80% and up to 95%.[22]

Among the training in the Basic Special Actions Course is:

1. Fitness Training (Camp Phase)
2. Physical and Mental Training (Jungle Phase)
3. Basic Rope Training
4. Basic First Aid Training
5. Unarmed Combat Training (Malay: Latihan Tempur Tanpa Senjata)
6. Marksmanship
7. Basic CQB (Malay: Latihan Asas Tempur Jarak Dekat)
8. Basic Hostage Rescue (Urban, Aircraft and Train)

In 2016, from 320 applicants, only 18 police personnels passed the selection. One of them is a woman senior officer.[22]

To accomplish its varied mission profiles, the UTK ensures that its members are well trained in the required aspects of special operations. These include:

Insertion Techniques

• HALO/HAHO
• Fast roping techniques
• Helo casting
• Abseiling
• Combat diving

Combat Techniques

UTK operators riding the Honda ST1300 escorted the VIP vehicles out to the exit gate of Parliament Square after the 52nd Independence Day Parade on 31 August 2009.

• Close Quarters Combat – CQC
• Counter-insurgency
• Unconventional warfare
• Sabotage
• Close VIP protection
• Vehicular assault
• Unarmed combat
• Knife combat
• Marksmanship
• Booby-trap defusal
• Underwater demolitions

Intelligence Gathering

• Intelligence
• Counterintelligence
• Special reconnaissance
• Long-range Combat Patrol

Task Oriented

An UTK operator rappels on a building.

• Aircraft Hijackings
• Car stops
• Combat, Search and Rescue (CSAR)
• Coordinate multi-location warrant service
• Dignitary protection
• Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD)
• Foreign language
• Fugitive tracking (in rural environments)
• Hazmat Disposal[23]
• High risk arrests (armed and dangerous subjects)
• Hostage rescue (HR)
• K9 Handling[23]
• Operations in WMD environments
• Site surveys for high visibility events
• Specialized sniper operations
• Stronghold assaults (structures requiring specialised breaching equipment that local law enforcement might not have access to)
• Tubular assaults (aircraft, trains, buses, etc.)

The UTK is known to conduct joint training exercises and participate in exchange programs with Commonwealth special ops units such as the Australian SAS, British SAS, New Zealand SAS and Singapore Special Tactics and Rescue. Occasionally, the UTK trains with FBI Hostage Rescue Team, French GIGN and RAID, German GSG 9,[24] Italian NOCS, Spanish G.E.O, U.S. Delta Force, U.S. Army Green Berets, Russian Special Rapid Response Unit[24] and other international units.

On 10 December 2003, the then Inspector General of Police, Tan Sri Mohd Bakri Haji Omar, launched the training program between the USSOCPAC and the 69th PGK at the General Operations Force Training Center in Ulu Kinta, Perak. The teams of SOCPAC were to conduct joint exercise with the PGK, under the code-name Advance Vector Balance Mint for a duration of 2 weeks.[25] Only 42 out of the 194 participants completed the inaugural program.

As a special operations unit, the UTK is equipped with a wide variety of high-class weapons and support equipment commonly associated with counter-terrorism operations, the most common weapons include sub-machine guns, assault rifles, shotguns, machine guns and sniper rifles.[23]

Name	Type	Origin	Notes
Colt Python	Magnum revolver
Glock 17/18/26/34[23]	Semi-automatic pistol
Heckler & Koch Mk23 Mod 0[23]	Semi-automatic pistol
Heckler & Koch USP[23]	Semi-automatic pistol
SIG Sauer P2022	Semi-automatic pistol
Franchi SPAS-12	Shotgun
Remington 870 PM[23]	Shotgun		Police Magnum-types
Remington 1100[23]	Shotgun
CZ Scorpion Evo 3	Submachine gun		Fitted with the various different optics.
Heckler & Koch MP5A5 / MP5K-A3 / MP5SD3[23]	Submachine gun		Fitted with Insight Technologies underbarrel flashlights (for MP5A5) and Aimpoint CompM2 red-dot optics.
Heckler & Koch MP7 A1[26]	Personal defense weapon		Fitted with an Aimpoint CompM2 red-dot optics.
FN SCAR-H	Battle rifle		Fitted with Aimpoint CompM2 red-dot optics.
Heckler & Koch HK416 A3	Assault rifle		D10RS and D14.5RS, fitted with an Aimpoint CompM2 red-dot optics.
Ferfrans SCW	Assault rifle		Fitted with an Aimpoint Micro-T red-dot optics.
Accuracy International PM	Sniper rifle
Accuracy International AWSM	Sniper rifle
Accuracy International AX338	Sniper rifle
Barrett M107A1	Anti-material sniper rifle
Heckler & Koch PSG1[23]	Designated marksman rifle
Remington 700P	Sniper rifle
Heckler & Koch HK11	Light machine gun
Taser X26	Electroshock weapon

Officers from the Special Actions Unit, Royal Malaysia Police, on the Rapid Intervention Vehicle at the Sultan Abdul Samad Street for the 2015 National Day Parade in Kuala Lumpur. They dons the new Marine Ops Core tactical helmets and new Ferfrans SCW carbines.

• UF PRO
  • Frost-grey coloured Fire-resistant Combat-clothing

• Garmin Instinct Tactical Black
  • Garmin UTK tactical-watch, with GPS functional.

• / Ops-Core FAST helmet
  • SF Ops-Core

As a special forces unit, the UTK employs a number of specialised vehicles to accomplish its missions. These include the MRAP Streit Typhoon and the GKN Sankey AT105 armoured personnel carriers equipped with M60s as assault vehicles in urban terrain as well as modified police MPV (Mobile Patrol Vehicles), vans, trucks, 4WD and buses for use as tactical vehicles. PGK also employs RHIB assault boats, jet-skis and Marine Subskimmer (DPV) in maritime missions and amphibious insertions.

For its airborne operations, UTK utilises the Cessna 206G, Cessna 208 Caravan 1 and Pilatus Porter PC-6 aircraft as well as the E-Squirrel AS-355 F2/AS-355N helicopter.

UTK Operators will be sent to the overseas training centre to sharpen their skills.[27]

In 2017, then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato' Seri Najib Razak has announced to relocate UTK Headquarters from Bukit Aman to Semenyih, Selangor.[28] The new base will cost 100 million Ringgit.

Two operatives of UTK including one female operator armed with MP5-N sub-machine guns during the CQC drill.

In February 2008, a major leader of the Singaporean Jemaah Islamiah (JI), Mas Selamat escaped from the Whitley Road Detention Center, a detention centre of the most stringent in Southeast Asia. A few months later, he was found hiding in a village house in Kampung Tawakal, Skudai, 40 km from the city of Johor Bahru.

With surveillance and planning with tactical raids were so neat, on 1 April 2009 06:00 AM, a team of anti-terrorist unit, UTK were sent to help members of the Special Branch apprehend the leader of the militants in the home village. UTK outflank every corner of the house when Mas Selamat was sleeping.

According to witnesses the incident, Mohd Saat Marjo, 57, who was a neighbour next door, is telling that a masked team armed with automatic weapons, along with members of the Special Branch in plain clothes, stormed the house through two gates which are broken as soon as Mas Selamat refused to come out to surrender even called by the police. The raid and siege of UTK and Special Branch is perfectly done, which led Mas Selamat failed to escape until he was caught. He was handcuffed and his face is covered with dark blue cloth before being taken out.[29] Regular members of JI, Abdul Matin Anol Rahmat and Johar Hassan also was arrested there.[30] Police also seized a number of JI's documents and confidential planning information and send Bomb Disposal Unit to ensure that the house is free of any explosives. However, the involvement of UTK in the operation is not made public because of the high level of secrecy. The arrest was more directed to the Special Branch unit.

• 5 August 1975: UTK deployed in the first mission during the AIA building hostage crisis when the Japanese Red Army terrorists held approximately 50 civilians including members of the US consulate and the Swedish chargé d'affaires as hostages within the AIA building housing several embassies in Kuala Lumpur.
• October 1985: Special Actions Unit (UTK) was involved in hostage rescue operations including one doctor and one medical assistant by six armed convicts led by Jimmy Chua in Pudu Jail, Kuala Lumpur. Six days later, hostages were successfully rescued, while Jimmy was captured and was sentenced to death.

• 29 June 1993: UTK stormed a hiding place of P. Kalimuthu or Bentong Kali at Medan Damasara, Selangor. In the shoot-out with the police, the Most-Wanted Criminal was successfully killed.
• 1998: The Pasukan Gerakan Khas and the Grup Gerak Khas were deployed to provide security and were on standby for hostage rescue, close protection and counter-terrorism duties during the 1998 Commonwealth Games held at National Stadium, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur on 11 to 21 September 1998.[31]
• 18 January 2000: Involved in an operation to arrest the Geng Steyr, the armed criminal group which was led by ex-special forces personnel named Mohd Hizan Jaafar, along with 5 men after they robbed a bank in Sri Serdang Road, Selangor. During the operation, two criminals including Mohd Hizan and Abu Hasan were killed at Majidee Malay Village and two more were killed in a shoot-out with the police at Tol Plaza Kempas, Johor Bahru and recovered 4 Steyr AUG rifles, Smith & Wesson .22 handgun, one Remington shotgun, 85 rounds of 5.56 mm bullets, 3 rounds .22 bullets, a few bullet shells and found RM291,000. The police also launched an operation to hunt two other members of the gang.[32]
• 2001: Arrested two Jemaah Islamiyah suspect terrorists which in the list of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Yazid Sufaat and Suhaimi Mokhtar and detained at the Kamunting Detention Center under the Internal Security Act (ISA) 1960 related to involvement with the activities of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and al-Qaeda other 11 September attacks and Bali bombings.[33][34]
• 2002: Arrested six Jemaah Islamiyah suspect terrorists, Dr Abdullah Daud, Shamsuddin Sulaiman, Mat Shah Mohd Satray, Abdul Murad Sudin, Zaini Zakaria and Zainun Rashid.[33]
• 27 September 2002: Hunted downed Geng M16, the then Most-Wanted-Criminals of Malaysia for armed robbery at the Bank of Tokyo in 1985, 16 other armed robberies in jewellery shops and pawn shops, carting away loot which amounted to RM 21.28 million. It was reported that all the members of this group were Chinese and the mastermind of this group was one Elvis Keh Jiang Long a.k.a. Ah Po, the ex-Singaporean National Service personnel (Singaporean Army), was an expert in various firearms and he was responsible for training the group for the robberies. During the gunfighting with the UTK in Batu 5, Jalan Seremban-Mantin, near the Galla Recreational Park, Mantin, Negeri Sembilan, two of the Geng M16 members, identified as Sunny Chai @ Sum Wing Chang and his righthand man, known as Hew Yau, were shot dead. Another gang member, Chang Kew Yin, managed to escape. One UTK officer was wounded. Security forces recovered an M16 rifle with two rounds of ammunition, a Colt semi-automatic handgun with 16 rounds of ammunition, a Smith & Wesson revolver and three ski-masks from the suspects' vehicles. At 28, 2 December am, Chang was gunned down in the ensuing shootout at Jalan Keris, Taman Sri Tebrau, Johor Bahru and security forces recovered a China-made Norinco pistol with three rounds of ammunition from Chang's body. Federal CID Director, Datuk Salleh Mat Som (late), said the police was always hunting for the Geng M16 members who were still at large, including sending their officers to Singapore and Thailand to track Keh down and also requested the assistance of the Australian police to locate another gang member, Hew Soon Loong @ Hong Kong Chai, who was believed to have fled to the country.[35][36]
• 2003: Arrested six Jemaah Islamiyah suspect terrorists, Mohd Khaider Kadran (JI leader), Wan Amin Wan Hamat, Sulaiman Suramin, Sufian Salih, Ahmad Muaz Al Bakry and Hasim Talib.[33]
• 16 October 2003/17 October 2003: Involved in VIP protection of the Islamic leaders during the 10th Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Putrajaya.
• 2004: Arrested three Indonesian National Jemaah Islamiyah suspect terrorists, Zakaria Samad, Ahmad Zakaria and Terhamid Dahalan.
• 2004: Arrested three Indonesian National Jemaah Islamiyah suspect terrorists, Mahfudi Saifuddin, Mulyadi and Arifin related to involved with the activities of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) other Bali bombings in 2004.
• 2005: Undertook VIP escort missions to protect ex-Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad when he visited Johor.
• 2006: Deployed as part of the United Nations (U.N.) INTERFET to support the Operation Astute. It consisted of Malaysian U.N. 10th Parachute Brigade, Grup Gerak Khas, Australian and New Zealand U.N Armed Forces in Timor Leste.[37]
• 2007: Arrested four alleged Jemaah Islamiyah involvements, Zulkifli Marzuki, Mohd Nasir Ismail, Ahmad Kamil Hanafiah and Muhd Amir Hanafiah.[33]
• 16 July 2008: Arrested the PKR de facto leader, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim in front of his house at Bukit Segambut in the twillight hours, similar to what happened in 1998, for investigations under Section 377C of the Penal Code for alleged "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" with his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan. However, CID director Commissioner Dato' Mohd Bakri Zinin said that the arrest was not carried out by the UTK, but by the Bukit Aman's Serious Crimes Division (possibly by the Unit Tindakan Cepat, UTC).[38]

An UTK officer using a battering ram to performing a door breaching during the CQC drill.

• 2009: In February 2008, a Singaporean Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leader, Mas Selamat Kastari escaped from Whitley Detention Center, the tightest detention centre in Singapore. A few months later, he was found to be hiding at a village house in Kampung Tawakal, Skudai, 40 km from Johor Bahru. Following intelligence sharing with the police forces of Indonesia and Singapore and tidying of tactical planning, in the dawn of 1 April 2009 at 06:00 am, a team from UTK counter-terrorist unit was deployed to assist police Special Branch agents recapture the militant leader in the village house.
• 2010: Intercepted the Sultan of Kelantan's motorcade (escorts) 30m outside of the Kelantan Royal Palace as they were heading for the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport to depart for Singapore pending further treatment at Mount Elizabeth Hospital. The team then brought the Sultan, himself not willingly, to the nearby hospital (HUSM) somewhere 200m from the Palace.[39]
• 8 July 2011: Deployed in a hostage rescue mission in which a preschool located at Sungai Abong Park, Sakeh Street near Muar in southern Johore state was taken by a 40-year-old man. The man named Loi Hui Chung, who was suspected to be a drug addict and mentally-deranged, was armed with a hammer and a machete and he threatened to kill the hostages if his demand was not met. The siege ended at exactly 1541 GMT after UTK members stormed the building with tear gas and shot the suspect. He was in a critical condition with a head wound and died later at the Sultanah Fatimah Specialist Hospital at 2115 GMT.[40][41][42]

• 7 February 2013: Arrested a former Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee Yazid Sufaat and two of his friends, including a woman, in the Klang Valley, Selangor in separate operations. The unit nabbed Yazid and Mohd Hilmi Hasim at a canteen in the Jalan Duta court complex whilst the woman, Halimah Hussin, was picked up from her house in Kajang. They became the first few to be arrested under the new Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA) which replaced the ISA. They were alleged to have been promoting terrorism, and had allegedly been linked to terrorist activities in Syria.[43][44][45]
• 2013: Deployed in Lahad Datu, Sabah during the Lahad Datu conflict. The 69 Commando members were involved in hunting down a terrorist group, numbering approximately 200 in strength, from the self-styled "Royal Security Forces of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo," while UTK members were deployed in urban and populated areas to defend them. The commandos were the main assault team during the early stage of the conflict. Two officers were gunned down and three more wounded in an unexpected "white flag" ambush by the Sulu terrorists, while 12 of the terrorists were shot to death in retaliation and three other terrorists were fatally wounded.[46]