Tajik, Afghan officers undergo border training

DUSHANBE -- Tajik and Afghan border guards completed a four-week training course on field operational capacities September 20 in Dushanbe, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said in a statement Monday (September 23).

The training, attended by 15 Tajik and 10 Afghan border guards, was part of the "Patrol Field Capacity Building of the Tajik Border Troops through Promotion of Regional Co-operation" project.

The participants studied "map reading, mountaineering and provision of first aid in the field", said the OSCE. They "also enhanced their knowledge on planning and conducting border patrolling with the use of topographical maps, satellite imagery, developing patrol planning and management techniques and mountaineering".

Five instructors from the Tajik Border Troops, alumni of previous courses by the OSCE, conducted the training.

The trainees additionally learned about gender mainstreaming, human rights and mine-clearing awareness.

At the graduation ceremony, Valeriu Chiveri, head of the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe, congratulated the participants. He thanked the international community and Tajik border forces for their co-operation in border security.

The course "provides an opportunity for officers of both countries to find mutual understanding in the protection of state borders", said Col. Sharifov Zafar, director of the International Department of the Tajik Border Troops, according to the OSCE.

"I believe that safe borders can play an important role in preventing or reducing the threats which are caused by terrorism", said Col. Muhammad Mustafo Nuristani, military attaché from the Afghan embassy in Dushanbe.

Since the project started in 2018, the OSCE has trained 164 Tajik and 10 Afghan border guards.