OSCE supports regional explosive ordnance disposal course for specialists from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Serbia
On 27 October 2023, nineteen mine action specialists and practitioners (18 men, 1 woman) from the military, law enforcement, security services, and humanitarian agencies of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Serbia completed a three-week regional Explosive Ordnance Disposal course (EOD Level 2) at the Regional Explosive Hazards Training Centre of Tajikistan’s Ministry of Defence in Chimteppa.
During the EOD Level 2 course participants enhanced their skills in determining when it is safe to move and transport specific items of ordnance, as well as in conducting simultaneous disposal of multiple items of ordnance through a series of theoretical classes and practical exercises, focusing on EOD safeties, explosives and explosive theory, fuze arming forces and fuze types, use of metal detector, EOD reconnaissance, demolition range management, and full mission profile.
The closing ceremony at the Regional Explosive Hazards Training Centre in Chimteppa was attended by representatives of the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe, Tajikistan’s Ministry of Defence, the U.S. Embassy in Tajikistan, and the United States Army Central (USARCENT).
Major-General Miravar Khushvakht, First Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Tajikistan’s Ministry of Defence stressed “the significance of regional initiatives in facilitating inter-military co-operation and providing long-standing support in building national and regional capacities in improving the explosive hazards situation in Central Asia.”
Ihar Kuzminich, Acting Head of the OSCE Office’s Politico-Military Department said that “the long-standing technical explosive hazard coordination, multilateral capacity building, and technical level dialogue are to support the utilization of participants’ knowledge, experience, and good practices in reducing threats to national and regional security posed by explosive hazards in Central Asia.”
Manuel Micaller, Jr. Ambassador of the United States to the Republic of Tajikistan, emphasized that “the U.S. works together with Tajikistan’s Ministry of Defence, OSCE and regional partners to provide training in the disposal of explosive devices, such as landmines, and keeping everyone safer. It is a great example of concrete co-operation between the Central Asian militaries.”
Sonja Stanisavljevic, the Integrated Cooperation on Explosive Hazards’ Project Manager at the OSCE Programme Office, noted “the importance of international community in making sure that joint effort to improve the explosive hazards situation in Central Asia succeeds.”
The activity is part of the OSCE Programme Office’s broader role in mobilizing national and international actors, fostering political dialogue on a wide range of security issues, and developing a platform for joint action among participating Central Asian states, all aiming to make a lasting difference in humanitarian mine action.