Maldives National Defence Force
The Maldives National Defence Force (former National Security Service), armed forces of Maldives was founded in 1978 after President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom came to power. Its predecessor, the National Security Guard functioned as the State's primary paramilitary organization during the rule of the country's second president, Ibrahim Nasir. The NSS retained most of its functions up until recent times when a separate police force was established to differentiate the military duties and domestic law enforcement duties.
With the lack of security problems in the country for decades, a strong military establishment was not needed, therefore the NSS continued to function as a paramilitary organization. It performs army and maritime duties as well as intelligence gathering. The NSS was a very small force numbering some 1000 personnel during the 1980s. However, after the attempted foreign coup of 1988, the NSS was expanded and strengthened with the help of friendly countries such as India, the U.S. and the UK. In 2001 the NSS had some 3500 personnel in its ranks as well as light armour and naval defence capabilities.
NSS is further divided into sections rather than regular military formations, the NSS being a paramilitary force. Although it has the equivalent personnel of a full brigade or 4 infantry battalions, the operational capabilities and the fusion of support troops to that of combat troops makes this impossible to achieve. The ranking system of the NSS is based on the traditional British military system, though with minor modifications. The highest flag rank ever awarded was that of Lieutenant General, in a non-military capacity to the previous Defence Minister Abdul Sattar. Currently, the MNDF Chief of Staff responsible for the organizational duties of the military is Maj. Gen. Mohamed Zahir.
The Indian government gave at least a dozen armoured vehicles to help with the expansion of the NSS including Russian made BRDM-2 Armoured Reconnaissance Vehicles, Alvis Saladin Scout Cars and Ferret Armoured Cars during the past 15 years. The NSS also acquired at least 8 Cobra Light Armoured Vehicles from Turkey and two Coastal Surveillance Vessels (CSV) from Colombo Dockyard Limited in Sri Lanka[1], these vessels were commissioned as Ghazee and Iskandar. In April 2006 the Coast Guard section of the NSS received the Trinkat Class Fast Attack Craft INS Tillanchang from the Indian Navy, the second ship of its class which was recommissioned as Huravee in the Maldives. The Seychelles also received a Trinkat Class patrol craft last year as part of the Indian government's doctrine towards the Indian Ocean Region. In addition the MNDF Coastguard is currently having 2 additional patrol vessels under construction at the Colombo Dockyard, Sri Lanka. The first vessel is of 35m in length while the second one is 40m, these are intended to provide greater patrol endurance in the EEZ area. The 35m craft's construction started in May 2006.
On 21st April 2006, during ceremony of its 114th anniversay the NSS was renamed as the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF). Although the latter organization will inherit all the functions of the NSS, it is evident that the redefinition of a paramilitary force as contemporary self-defence service is in line with the ever changing landscape of the security forces in the country, especially after the seperation of the police as an internal law enforcement agency in 2004.
The CIA World Factbook states that the Maldives spends approximately $41,100,000 for military purposes or 5.5% of the GDP which is considered extremely high for a small country [2]. According to Amnesty International's 2004 annual report, there are continued reports of torture or ill-treatment of prisoners by the NSS. At least two prisoners died and a number of inmates were injured with gun shot wounds at the hands of the NSS during 2003. An investigation ordered by Gayoom resulted in the arrest of a number of NSS personnel. In recent times, the NSS has been used as a tool by Gayoom to spread fear and intimidation and to crack down on democratic activists who are critical of his rule. [3]