By: BRIG. GEN. ALI AHMED RASAA/Former CHAIRMAN, YEMENI COAST GUARD AUTHORITY Yemen is important, thanks to its strategic location overlooking the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea, with a coastline stretching more than 2,400 kilometers. Yemen’s location on the Bab el Mandeb Strait, one of the most important straits for international maritime, has a special significance: It represents a passage for ships coming from and going to Europe through the Suez Canal. That is why both large industrial nations and emerging industrial countries pay special attention to the strategic location of Yemen, especially since international maritime…
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Jordan hosts Eager Lion 2013 with a focus on unconventional military threats UNIPATH STAFF The special operations troops huddle on the tarmac perched on a rocky ledge over the King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Center. The Iraqi commandos are dressed in black jumpsuits, the Emiratis in sand-colored uniforms, the Jordanians in camouflage. The officers consult with the Black Hawk helicopter pilots whose aircraft idle in the background. How high must the men descend down slick ropes from the helicopter bays? Can the pilots ensure a 10-meter drop? The lower the helicopter, the less exposure if you’re being fired upon.…
A Pakistani doctor helps people cope with the trauma of extremist violence By: DR. MIAN IFTIKHAR HUSSAIN/GUEST AUTHOR About the author: Dr. Mian Iftikhar Hussain has been running the Iftikhar Psychiatric Hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, since 2003. From 1985 to 2010 he worked at the Sarhad Hospital for Psychiatric Diseases. He has served as a consultant psychiatrist for the Khyber Teaching Hospital, Lady Reading Hospital and several others in the region. He is a member of the executive committee of the Pakistan Psychiatric Society and an international member of the American Psychiatric Association. A man in his mid-20s who was…
Countries of the Middle East and Central Asia are taking steps to meet the challenge UNIPATH STAFF The money came from the sale of South American cocaine in the increasingly lucrative European market. The hundreds of millions of dollars were then used to purchase motor vehicles in the United States for shipment to Africa. Once the cars were sold in Africa, the laundered money was deposited in Lebanese financial institutions, and eventually much of it was funneled to terror and criminal groups in the Middle East. This plot, uncovered and shut down in 2011 and 2012 by international investigators, provides…
Naval forces counter threats to navigation and infrastructure By: DR. THEODORE KARASIK AND NADINE MAZRAANI INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST AND GULF MILITARY ANALYSIS Nearly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply transits the Strait of Hormuz each year. That places it among the world’s most strategic waterways. But these shipping lanes, along with the ports and oil installations of the Arabian Peninsula, have been threatened by piracy, terrorism and nefarious activity by rogue states. An attack on any of these would have widespread ramifications on the global economy and regional stability. An increase in arms, drug and human trafficking, a rise…
Security professionals from Central Asia and the Middle East train at Turkish academies By: SÜLEYMAN ÖZEREN, Ph.D., and KAMIL YILMAZ, Ph.D./Guest AuthorS photos by International Center for terrorisim and transnational crime (UTSAM) Turkey has a long history of combating terrorism and transnational crime. The Turkish National Police (TNP) run innovative training centers at which these problems are addressed from a regional perspective, with a heavy emphasis on participation from the Middle East and Central Asia. Two of the most important are the Turkish International Academy against Drugs and Organized Crime (TADOC) and the International Center for Terrorism and Transnational Crime…
UNIPATH STAFF With the goal of becoming a peacekeeping power, Tajikistan participated for the first time in the Khaan Quest exercises in Mongolia in August 2013. The annual United Nations-sponsored peacekeeping exercise drew about 1,000 participants and observers from 13 nations. The country’s peacekeeping battalion, formed in 2010, sought out expertise that comes from attending Khaan Quest. Mongolia prides itself on being a top provider of peacekeeping troops to organizations such as the U.N. “Our battalion has only just been formed, and Tajikistan does not have the necessary experience,” Lt. Col. Tokhir Khairulloyev told Central Asia Online. “But we are…
UNIPATH STAFF The Afghan Ministry of Interior has created a Community Policing Directorate — part of a larger plan to transform the Afghan National Police (ANP) from an agency dedicated to countering extremism to focusing on daily law enforcement and community policing. The new directorate is part of the ANP’s 10-year strategic plan developed in early 2013. Minister of Interior Mohammed Omer Daudzai said in a speech, “By 2024, the ANP will be smaller in number, higher in quality, professional, impartial, capable, and less dependent on international assistance. It should be enjoying public trust and participation with a primary focus…
YEMENI ARMED FORCES Yemeni armed forces continue to claim victories in stopping international arms smuggling, recently seizing a ship that was carrying weapons bound for the country’s interior, the Supreme Security Committee said in July 2013. The ship was intercepted entering Yemeni territorial waters near Zoqar Island in the Red Sea. The seized weapons were destined for the Yemeni interior after being unloaded on an island in the Hunish Archipelago. Had the shipment not been intercepted, the arms would have been transferred to small boats bound for the Yemeni coast. Security committee officials expressed gratitude for the Yemeni-Turkish security cooperation…
KUWAIT NEWS AGENCY Countries are showing increasing determination to unite their efforts to fight illegal drugs, said Kuwaiti Col. Mohammad Al-Hazeem, head of operations at the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry Drug Control Department. Al-Hazeem was speaking on the sidelines of the ninth International Forum on Drugs Issues, held in June 2013 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The event was organized by the Dubai Police Force. Al-Hazeem said the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry is keen on taking part in all such events, stressing that the forum is an important meeting place for international bodies leading the fight against drugs. Participating organizations included the…