NOTE: I am not, nor do I claim to be an expert in this field, I am merely offering a few common sense tips, if someone more experienced than me feels something here is wrong, please contact me immediately so it can be corrected. )
What is insurgency?
When a part of a population, feels mistreated, or have a goal that the government is preventing them from achieving, sometimes, people may take armed action, to correct what they feel is a wrong. Insurgency is not regular warfare, the goal is not the defeat of an organized army, rather,to bog down the enemy, to the point that the government, will have to give concessions or even fully acknowledge the wants of the group. Counter insurgency may be tricky, however organized security forces can take some steps to deal with insurgency.
Ground Rules
Here are some general guidelines to consider, note, while these are not always applicable, you should still keep them in mind.
1. Don't get Cocky.
Do not think, that just because you have a 3 million man army, the latest technology, or a large budget, and maybe even a good kill ratio, that you will win. Insurgents in many cases, have the advantage of blending in with the locals, and are hard to detect. Furthermore, if they feel strongly enough about their cause, they may fight to the death. A man passionately fighting for freedom, will fight harder than a soldier who is there simply because he has been drafted, or joined the army/security force for the benefits. In Vietnam, the US had better technology, and had lost only around 50 thousand men, while the North Vietnamese lost 2 million. Yet the Vietnamese still won.
2. Treat locals with respect
A big part of the insurgents strategy, is relying on the local population for support. As an organized security force, you have a budget, and the industrial might of the nation backing your effort, all the insurgents have in many cases, are just some locals, who can spare some goods. Therefore, if you can convince the locals, that you are the good guys, the insurgents lose their hiding places, and supplies, which makes life much more difficult. Ways of demonstrating your goodwill are things like building infrastructure, and allowing local governance.
3. Make use of other organizations
If you can, try and seek out other insurgent organizations, which have opposing goals to the main one, and try to make a deal with them.
It helps very much to have the support of such groups, furthermore, if you can, try and split up the main organization as much as possible, try and exploit race, class, and religion issues, to make the organization drift apart. Then it will be easier to conquer a bunch of infighting groups, than one united one.
4. Spying
Fairly self explanatory, simply send in spies, and you will be able to get a better idea of the organizations function, and attacks they are planning.
5.Pseudo terrorist operations
During the Rhodesian bush war in the 1970s, the government of Ian Smith, lacking technology, money, or manpower, decided that he would create a unit, called the Selous Scouts, that would fight off the ZANU and ZAPU forces. The Selous scouts revolved around looking, and acting like terrorists. In their training, they learned terrorist customs, and language, from former terrorists themselves. The Selous Scouts where very successful, killing many. So, it may be a good idea, to have a unit of your military/security force that can act like the terrorists.
So, I hope these tips will help you out. I am not an expert , and this is not a complete guide by any definition. However, these general tips should help you out a little.
Feel free to comment, make corrections, and suggest what more I can add.
I also hope to be able to learn more about Counter Insurgency in the future, and be able to write a more conclusive guide.
EDIT: I realized this probably belongs in international incidents. I am going to request a tow.
EDIT 2: Under construction, more to be added.
