DUSHANBE, December 2, 2012, Asia-Plus – The OSCE Office in Tajikistan completed the second joint border patrol course for Afghan and Tajik border officers on November 30.ccording to the OSCE Office in Dushanbe, the course is one of a series of training courses to enhance the capacity of Tajik border troops and Afghan border police to detect and interdict illegal cross-border movement.
During the three-week course on patrol management and analysis, 12 Afghan border police officers and 10 Tajik border troops guards learned tactical patrolling, management and analysis for operational planning and action.
In a practical field exercise, the participants were given a scenario involving an illegal border crossing by a group of smugglers, where the officers were tasked with planning a coordinated operation. This mock exercise helped refresh and refine joint operational planning techniques, cooperation and co-ordination between the two sides.
During the graduation ceremony, Hans-Peter Larsen, the Deputy Head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, said: “The Office in Tajikistan looks forward to providing further capacity building training for Afghan and Tajik border guards in 2013 and 2014 under the Patrol Programming and Leadership project.”
Representing Afghanistan, General Abdulhaliq Cheerah, Defence Attaché of the Afghan Embassy in Tajikistan, said: “The Afghan side thanks the OSCE for its efforts to raise professional capabilities of the Afghan border police and promote cross-border cooperation with Tajik counterparts. The Afghan side is ready to continue cooperation with our Tajik partners to ensure security at the Afghan-Tajik border.”
The ceremony was also attended by senior officials from Tajikistan’s border troops.
The course is part of the second phase of the OSCE’s Patrol Programming and Leadership Project, which has been training border guards from Tajikistan and Afghanistan since April 2012. Following a successful pilot project last year involving ten Afghan Border Police officers, this new phase has been developed to support the needs of both Tajik and Afghan border guards.
