DUSHANBE -- Tajikistan (May 16) co-hosted a session of the C5+1 Security Working Group with officials from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and the United States in Dushanbe, the US embassy in Tajikistan said in a statement.
The C5+1 is "a format for dialogue and a platform for joint efforts to address common challenges faced by the United States and the five Central Asian states", said the embassy.
The US delegation included Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Central Asia Mark Moody and Ambassador to Tajikistan John Mark Pommersheim. Tajik Deputy Foreign Minister Muzaffar Huseinzoda led the Tajik team.
Topics included regional co-operation in counter-terrorism and the danger posed by returning foreign fighters, like Central Asians who fought for "Islamic State" (IS) in Syria and Iraq.
"The region's genuine sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity continue to be of the utmost importance to the United States," said Pommersheim.
Participants at the Dushanbe conference discussed regional approaches for defusing violent extremism, such as past and future C5+1 workshops on community policing, religious tolerance, youth engagement and social media.
