AKIPRESS.COM - Thirteen specialists from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan completed a three-week regional Explosive Ordnance Disposal course at the Regional Explosive Hazards Training Centre (REHTC) in Chimteppa, Tajikistan, on 29 October 2021.
The course was hosted by Tajikistan’s Defence Ministry and facilitated by the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe. For the first time, the course was conducted by the national EOD instructors of Tajikistan’s Defence Ministry, including the REHTC’s instructors.
The activity aimed to develop the competences and enhance the qualifications of military personnel from Central Asia in detecting and identifying explosive ordnances as well as determining when they can be safely moved and transported to their final disposal. Participants also learned to simultaneously implement the destruction of multiple ordnances using the line and ring chains of individual mines and unexploded ordnance.
During the closing ceremony, a computer equipment loan agreement to the REHTC was signed between Tajikistan’s Defence Ministry and the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe.
The project is supported by the US Department of State and Germany and is part of the OSCE’s efforts to develop a co-operative mechanism among Central Asian states to address concerns and challenges stemming from the disposal of explosive hazards.