Twenty Tajik border officers complete the first round of OSCE-EU organized operational planning course

Twenty border officers from Tajikistan’s Border Troops completed a three-week operational planning course on 5 March 2021 in the Hamadoni district of the Khatlon region. The course was organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe in co-operation with the Border Troops and funded by the European Union. 

Participants of the course, who were mainly Tajik border officers serving along the border with Afghanistan, enhanced their skills in operational planning, briefing techniques, information and risk management, gender awareness as well as command and control skills. The officers also learned how to react to threats emanating from outside the state borders, read topographic maps and interact and co-ordinate their joint operations to efficiently protect the border with border patrols.

Colonel Rajabzoda Nasim Holmurod, First Deputy Chairman-Commander of the Border Troops of the State Committee for National Security of the Republic of Tajikistan noted that the training course was aimed at developing skills required for patrolling Tajikistan’s border with Afghanistan that presents a challenging environment given its mountainous terrain and difficult climatic conditions. “I am confident that the skills and knowledge gained during the training process will be effectively applied in the future daily service in the operational tasks of protecting the state borders of the Republic of Tajikistan.”

Valeriu Chiveri, Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe thanked the leadership of the Border Troops of Tajikistan for the fruitful co-operation with the Programme Office in organizing this training course for Tajik border officers. “I am glad that this course took place in such a legendary border detachment. The programme on operational planning was designed for the heads of special units to learn how to collect necessary data in a timely manner and analyze the situation as well as make expedient decision and plan their activities.”

Petra Gašparova, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Tajikistan said: “The 18-month EU-funded project “Stabilization of Tajikistan’s southern border region with Afghanistan” is a very special project, since it combines support to both civilian and military actors. It is the first project of this kind implemented outside Africa and the Middle East. It is my great pleasure to congratulate the officers of the Tajik Border Troops on the successful conclusion of this first training cycle. More trainings are foreseen and we hope to include also members of the Afghan Border Services in the next rounds, since joint training is important to build confidence and enhance operational cross-border co-operation.”

This was the first in a series of training courses within the project funded through the European Union’s Foreign Policy Instrument. The project aims to increase the professional capacity of Tajik and Afghan Border Services to better tackle illicit activities in border areas. The project also aims to strengthen the capacity of the Committee on Emergency Situations and Civil Defense to respond to natural disasters in border regions.