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GIGN
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==Operations== [[File:Pascal paoli.jpg|thumb|Boarding of the ''[[MS Pascal Paoli|Pascal Paoli]]'' by GIGN, on 28 September 2005. The ship had been occupied by the Corsican trade union STC.]] GIGN reports directly to the Director General of the Gendarmerie Nationale (DGGN), i.e., the chief of staff of the Gendarmerie, who in turn reports directly to the [[Minister of the Interior (France)|Ministry of the Interior]]. The DGGN or his Deputy for Operations can take charge in a major crisis; however, most of the day-to-day missions are conducted in support of local units of the [[Departmental Gendarmerie]]. GIGN is also a member of the European [[ATLAS Network]], an informal association consisting of the special police units of the 27 states of the [[European Union]]. Known GIGN operations include: * Rescue of 30 French pupils from a [[school bus]] captured by the ''[[Front de Libération de la Côte des Somalis]]'' in [[Loyada]], [[Djibouti]] in 1976. GIGN snipers and [[French Foreign Legion]] troops killed the hostage-takers in an operation that was only partially successful, as two children were killed. * Planning the rescue of diplomats from the French Embassy in [[San Salvador]] in 1979; the hostage-takers surrendered before the assault was conducted. * Advising Saudi authorities during the [[Grand Mosque Seizure]] in [[Mecca]], [[Saudi Arabia]], in November and December 1979. * Arrest of several [[Corsica]]n terrorists of the [[National Liberation Front of Corsica]] at the Fesch Hostel in 1980. * Arrest of suspected Irish terrorists in the [[Irish of Vincennes]] affair, in August 1982. * Rescue of hostages during the [[Ouvéa cave hostage taking]] in [[Ouvéa|Ouvea]], [[New Caledonia]] in May 1988. * Protection of the [[1992 Winter Olympics|1992 Olympic Winter Games]] in [[Albertville]]. * Rescue of 229 passengers and crew from [[Air France Flight 8969]] in [[Marseille]] in December 1994. Nine GIGN operators were wounded during the operation, but all four hijackers were killed. The mission was broadcast live by news channels, increasing awareness of GIGN's existence. * Arrest of the mercenary [[Bob Denard]] and his group during a coup attempt in 1995 in [[Comoros]] ([[Operation Azalee]]). * Operations in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia]] to arrest persons indicted for war crimes. * Capture of 6 [[Somali people|Somali]] pirates, and recovery of part of the ransom, after ensuring that ''Le Ponant'' luxury yacht hostages were freed off the coast of [[Puntland]], [[Somalia]] in the [[Gulf of Aden]], in conjunction with French [[Commandos Marine]] in April 2008. * Deployment of tactical teams in Afghanistan in support of French Gendarmerie POMLT (Police Operational Mentoring Liaison Team) detachments from 2009 to 2011. * Deployment in Libya during [[Operation Harmattan]] in 2011.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.gendarmerie.interieur.gouv.fr/gign/Actus/La-croix-de-la-Valeur-militaire-pour-le-GIGN|title = La croix de la Valeur militaire pour le GIGN}}</ref> * Neutralization of the two terrorists involved in the Paris [[Charlie Hebdo shooting|''Charlie Hebdo'' shooting]] on 7 January 2015. * Deployment to the [[2015 Bamako hotel attack]], although the situation had already been taken care of by local police, with assistance from American and French special forces, by the time the GIGN team arrived. * Neutralization of the terrorist responsible for the [[Carcassonne and Trèbes attack]] in March 2018 (a former EPIGN officer, [[Arnaud Beltrame]], voluntarily swapped places with a hostage and was killed trying to disarm the terrorist). This operation was conducted by an AGIGN unit based in Toulouse under GIGN supervision, while operatives sent from Satory were still underway.{{cn|date=September 2024}} * Several deployments in Ukraine in 2022 to protect various French or International missions during the Russian invasion.<ref name="GIGN 3.0"/> * Deployment to counter [[2024 New Caledonia unrest|unrest in New Caledonia in 2024]] GIGN was selected by the [[International Civil Aviation Organization|International Civil Aviation Organisation]] (ICAO) to organise hostage-rescue exercises aboard planes for the special forces of the other member states.
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