Kyrgyz security forces uncovered a clandestine printing office that supplied forged documents to international terrorists and extremists. Agents of the Kyrgyz Republic’s State Committee for National Security (GKNB) snatched printing equipment and 94 counterfeit documents from a house in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh in November 2012. The haul also included passports, driving licenses, university diplomas, marriage certificates and other official documents. A Kyrgyz national from Jalal-Abad province was arrested in the raid. “It has been determined that the detainee manufactured fake documents and supplied them to members of international terrorist and extremist organizations,” according to a GKNB statement.…
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UNIPATH STAFF Iraq and Oman are upgrading their Air Forces with C-130J Super Hercules aircraft from Lockheed Martin, a security and aerospace company. Iraq is slated to receive six, which will complement the country’s fleet of three C-130Es. Oman will receive three, adding to its three C-130H models. The aircraft will support troops within both countries, as well as other operations such as humanitarian relief. “The aircraft’s multi-role, multi-mission capability is demonstrated daily by meeting the airlift needs of 72 countries. Be it combat delivery, special missions, aerial refueling, search and rescue, firefighting, weather reconnaissance, armed ISR [intelligence, search and…
UNIPATH STAFF The girls are just teenagers — but their stories are harrowing. Having left Syria for asylum in neighboring Jordan, they’re trying to cope with what they’ve experienced. “We fled death. It was horrible — there was shelling, and we were lucky to escape,” one girl said. “Because of bad phone connections, we haven’t been able to talk to family who stayed in Homs.” Now living in a refugee camp, the girls worry about their families and an uncertain future. They battle boredom and survivor’s guilt. “I’m not comfortable being here while people are dying in Syria,” said 19-year-old…
Pakistani leaders are working to establish a new counterterrorism agency that will coordinate efforts to defeat Taliban- and al-Qaida-linked violence. Pakistan says 35,000 people have been killed worldwide as a result of terrorism since the 9/11 attacks. In Pakistan, particularly near the Afghan border, suicide attacks, roadside bombings and shootings are a near day-to-day reality. Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira announced the proposal after a cabinet meeting in November 2012. “The cabinet today approved the National Counter-Terrorism Authority Bill, the need for which has been felt for a long time.” he told reporters. The next step is for the bill…
UNIPATH STAFF The National Dialogue Conference (NDC) sessions began March 18, 2013, in Sanaa, Yemen. The six-month-long process brought together 565 delegates representing 16 different political factions to discuss a range of complex and important issues. These include drafting a new constitution and the restructuring of state and political systems. Elections are planned for February 2014. To ensure security for the participants during the first plenary session, the government stationed 60,000 troops in the capital, with checkpoints on nearly every street. Local television stations ran live coverage of conference sessions. Opening the conference at Sanaa’s presidential palace, President Abd Rabuh…
41.2 Million The Kazakh government will spend $41.2 million to stem drug trafficking in its vast territory, announced Kazakh Interior Minister Kalmuhambet Kasymov in November 2012. About $27 million will be spent to strengthen the border, while $5.3 million will bolster customs agencies. The remainder will be spent on the Interior Ministry. Two of the major problems facing Kazakh security are the steady infiltration of Afghan heroin and the production of raw heroin in the Shu Valley of Kazakhstan’s southern Zhambyl province. Drug trafficking not only fuels addiction and spreads disease, it is a major source of funding for terrorist…
UNIPATH STAFF In November 2012, Qatar’s Deputy Premier and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Ahmad bin Abdallah al-Mahmud announced the country’s plans to build a regional center for disaster and relief operations in Doha. The center will improve coordination between the military and civilian agencies in the event of a disaster. A working group, led by members of Qatar’s Defense and Interior ministries, will complete the plans and get the center up and running. The project is part of the HOPEFOR Initiative — a U.N. project to improve civil–military operations. This type of coordination was essential during major disasters…
UNIPATH STAFF The Yemeni Coast Guard uncovered a plot to smuggle 40 tons of weapons, including sophisticated missiles and explosives, into the country. Coast Guard officials intercepted a dhow carrying the weapons on January 23, 2013, off the country’s eastern coast. “This is the most dangerous arms shipment being smuggled to Yemen,” Yemeni Deputy Interior Minister Abdel-Rahman Hanash told Reuters. “It contained anti-aircraft missiles, C-4 high explosives materials, which only a few countries in the Middle East possess.” Arms onboard the vessel, named the Jehan1, were destined for extremists operating in Yemen with the goal of undermining stability and security.…
STORY AND PHOTO BY SPC. SHARMAIN BURCH/THIRD ARMY, U.S. ARMY CENTRAL Health-care professionals from Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, the Kyrgyz Republic, Lebanon, Pakistan, Yemen and 11 other partner nations gathered in the United States at the Military Medical Operations Symposium in Washington, D.C., to discuss effective emergency health-care response strategies. The five-day conference in February 2013 covered topics ranging from disease surveillance, preparedness and response to chemical, biological and radiological incidents. It also emphasized coordination between civil authorities and the military to achieve goals. “Establishing a prepared response for health care is critical prior to an emergency,” said Brig. Gen. Rex…