Special Task Force (Sri Lanka)

Special Task Force
Active	1983; 41 years ago (1983)
Country	Sri Lanka
Branch	Sri Lanka Police
Type	Police tactical unit
Size	~8000 (2017)[1]
Nickname(s)	STF
Motto(s)	නියතයි ජය (Sinhala: Victory Assured)
Colours	Marine Green; Gold
Anniversaries	1 March
Engagements	Sri Lankan Civil War Second JVP insurrection
Commanders
Commandant	Waruna Jayasundara
Inspector General of Police	Deshabandu Tennakoon
Insignia
Ensign

The Special Task Force (STF) (Sinhala: විශේෂ කාර්ය බලකාය Visesha Karya Balakaya; Tamil: சிறப்பு அதிரடிப் படை) is the tier one police tactical unit of the Sri Lanka Police specialising in anti-irregular military, apprehension of armed and dangerous criminals, clandestine and covert operations, combat and patrolling in urban areas, counterterrorism and hostage rescue crisis managements, crowd control, executive protection, high-risk tactical law enforcement situations, indirect fire for support operations, irregular warfare, operating in difficult to access terrain, protecting high-level meeting areas, search and rescue people who are in distress or imminent danger from disaster, support crowd control and riot control, tactical special operations, and other tasks requiring special training. It was formed in 1983 not as a military force, but rather as a highly specialised armed police unit.