The battle for Pandaun on 20 November coincided with the third anniversary of the Ghorahi attack after which the Royal Nepali Army entered the fray against the Maoists. It was also the army's most successful offensive so far. Pandaun was the supply centre for the Maoists' entire mid-western region and the soldiers attacked a heavily-fortified Maoist base in inhospitable terrain at night. A lot of the credit goes to the army's well-trained Mahabir Rangers which was set up in the last three years. They were trained by the US special forces in commando mission operations in Lele and are armed with modern Colt Commando assault rifles, light communication gear, night-vision equipment and closely coordinating operations with intelligence information. This is not the only commando unit with the RNA, earlier the British forces had trained the 'Gha' Unit of the anti-terrorist force. Now the RNA has unified these two units and formed the Bhairab Gan.