Top 10 Police
The ten most elite counter-terror police units in the world — our pick, ranked.
GSG 9
Forged after the Munich 1972 massacre; its 1977 Mogadishu hostage rescue set the gold standard for police counter-terror.
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GIGN
France's elite gendarmerie intervention group and a global benchmark in hostage rescue.
YAMAM
Israel's national counter-terror unit — widely rated among the most effective CT forces in the world.
FBI Hostage Rescue Team
The FBI's Hostage Rescue Team — America's civilian tier-one counter-terror and hostage unit.
GIS (Carabinieri)
Italy's Carabinieri special intervention group — decades of counter-terror and anti-mafia operations.
GEO
Spain's Grupo Especial de Operaciones — a benchmark European police CT and hostage-rescue unit.
RAID
France's National Police elite unit for terrorism, hostage rescue and the most dangerous arrests.
EKO Cobra
Austria's counter-terror unit — famously the only one to have stopped a hijacking in mid-flight.
Alpha Group (FSB)
Russia's premier counter-terror unit, created by the KGB and still the Kremlin's first call.
Specialna enota policije (Rdeči panterji)
Slovenia's elite police unit — the 'Red Panthers', the country's counter-terror and hostage-rescue force since 1972.