Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (Serbia)
| Special Anti-terrorist Unit | |
|---|---|
A SAJ officer
|
|
| Active | 1978–present |
| Country |
 Serbia
|
| Branch | MUP |
| Type | Special forces |
| Role |
|
| Size | Classified |
| Garrison/HQ | Batajnica |
| Nickname(s) | SAJ |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Lt. Colonel Spasoje Vulević |
| Insignia | |
| Emblem |  |
The Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (Serbian: Специјална антитерористичка јединица (CAJ) / Specijalna antiteroristička jedinica (SAJ)) is a special operations and tactical unit of the Serbian Police.
The SAJ was established in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia due to the increasing activity of violent non-state actors in Western Europe that was occurring at the time from such groups as the IRA, ETA, Red Army Faction and the Red Brigades. The unit was founded on 13 May 1978.
The first commander was Franz Kos. Seven months after the founding of the unit, a decision was taken to establish on republic and provincial levels a unit with the same purpose. The Unit (Jedinica za antiteroristička dejstva, JATD) of the Republic Secretariate of Internal Affairs (RSUP) of SR Serbia was established in Novi Beograd on December 18, 1978.
The first commander of this unit was Miloš Bujenović. The main tasks of the new unit were to prevent aircraft hijacking, release of hostages, the fight against organized crime and similar high-risk operations in urban environments. In 1983 the base was relocated to Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport and the special unit was renamed Unit for Special Effects (Jedinica za specijalna dejstva RSUP).
In 1991 the unit was again renamed to Special Unit (Specijalna jedinica MUP-a Republike Srbije), and its new commander was Radovan Stojičić. In 1992, the Special Units consisted of sub-commands Belgrade, Novi Sad and Pristina, all under the United Command of Special Units. On June 1, 1992, the command of Special Anti-terrorist Units (Komanda SAJ) was established, with Živko Trajković as commander. It consisted of Belgrade SAJ under the command of Zoran Simović and Novi Sad SAJ under the command of Branko Ćuričić. In 1994, the Special Units were renamed Special Anti-Terrorist Units. In 1996, SAJ commander Radovan Stojičić-Badža was killed in downtown Belgrade by unknown assailants. In 1999, SAJ Belgrade and SAJ Pristina were integrated into the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit with seat in Centar 13. Maj in Batajnica, Belgrade, while SAJ Novi Sad was disbanded.
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