Preventive measures to hinder the use of explosives by terrorists
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- Published on 01 October 2013
A roundtable aimed at improving the control of explosive substances in order to hinder an access of terrorists to them was organized by the Transnational Threats Department of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) took place in Dushanbe today, on 1 October 2013.
“Many terrorist attacks remind on the urgency to hinder terrorist access to explosive substances,” said Hans Peter Larsen, Deputy Head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, in his opening remarks. “Today’s event highlights our strong commitment to support Tajikistan in strengthening control over such substances and in decreasing the terrorist threat in the region.” Mr Larsen mentioned that the event aimed at assisting Tajikistan in the implementation of the international legal framework on counter terrorism, providing its participants with a better understanding of what is required to prevent explosive-related terrorist attacks and how can the OSCE, cooperating with its partners, contribute to this effort in the most effective way.
Major General Normatov, Head of International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of the Republic of Tajikistan emphasised that “Tajikistan has first-hand experience in combatting the use of explosives for terrorism purposes. Since 1997 the MIA has managed to identify and neutralize around 200 organized crime and terrorist groups that have committed about 3000 serious crimes including 170 terrorist acts, 40 of which were committed by using explosives. At the same time, the MIA acknowledges the potential threat from Afghanistan in connection with International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) withdrawal in the nearest future.”
During the roundtable, the experts from Spain, United Kingdom and the UNODC shared with 25 experts from the ministries and from the private sectors their experiences on legal and practical tools to improve effectiveness in the control of explosives and chemical substances in the situation, where fertilizers and many other chemicals, which can be used by terrorists to prepare homemade explosives, are easily accessible in the market.
As a result of the round table, the recommendations for the state agencies, business communities and the private sector were adopted to prevent the use of explosives and their precursors for terrorist purposes.
