UNIPATH STAFF On a July 2018 visit to Pakistan’s Centre for International Peace and Stability, United Nations Undersecretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix honored the sacrifices of Pakistani troops involved in dozens of U.N. peacekeeping missions. The peace center opened in 2013 under the auspices of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to train domestic and international peacekeepers. Lacroix is responsible for peacekeeping operations at the U.N., and paid homage to the 156 Pakistanis who died on such overseas missions. “Pakistani Army and Armed Forces’ contributions to our missions are really making a difference, and we think it’s an outstanding contribution to the cause of…
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UNIPATH STAFF The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is providing training and instruction to Soldiers and civilians to detect and avoid land mines and improvised explosive devices. The 10,500-strong multinational peacekeeping force recently celebrated its 40th anniversary policing southern Lebanon, a region still suffering the effects of decades of conflict. UNIFIL and its Lebanese partners conduct “Mine Risk Education” days that entail instructing thousands of South Lebanese schoolchildren to avoid mines and unexploded ordnance. “Land mines and other explosive remnants of war not only endanger the lives of UNIFIL personnel, but also of local populations throughout south…
SALTANAT BERDIKEEVA Located in a region whose remote mountains and deserts can conceal terrorists, opium traffickers and other criminals, Turkmenistan hosted a workshop in May 2018 dedicated to improved border security. Border security officials from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and experts from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations participated in the workshop. Attendees noted that, despite the importance of guarding borders in a region prone to illegal crossings and smuggling, Central Asian states had yet to adopt a unified vision of border security. The focus of the meeting was on best…
UNIPATH STAFF Kazakhstan’s Parliament approved a plan to help finance the country’s defense industry and lessen reliance on Russian munitions. The country’s Ministry of Defense and Aerospace Industry will provide financial assistance to boost research into science and technology. The money will be generated in part by the sale of unused Soviet-era military equipment. Vice Minister of Defense and Aerospace Industry Asset Kurgmangaliev said the $80 million the country hopes to raise with the equipment sales will help fill shortfalls in the national budget and help attract foreign investment. During the Soviet period, Kazakhstan served as a base for Soviet…
UNIPATH STAFF Qatar is requiring its young men to serve longer in the military while raising the profile of women in the Armed Forces. The new national service law took effect in April 2018 and requires men ages 18 to 35 to serve a year in the military instead of the previously enacted three or four months. The Armed Forces have also begun to recruit female volunteers, although women have held desk jobs in the military in the past. Women now can serve in military roles other than administrative. Qatar introduced male conscription in 2014, and men must apply within…
UNIPATH STAFF Jordan has successfully trained 750 Soldiers and civilians to respond to potential chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosives attacks. Soldiers and emergency workers have received years of training in mass casualty decontamination operations, most recently in cooperation with a mobile training team staffed by the Colorado Army National Guard from the United States. To increase preparedness to counter weapons of mass destruction (WMD), Jordan received several decontamination systems with support from the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency. What had been lacking was a sufficient number of experienced personnel to operate the decontamination systems. The Colorado team developed…
UNIPATH STAFF Kyrgyzstan will offer money for weapons and explosives poached from the military during past conflicts. This security-enhancing measure, announced by the Kyrgyzstani Ministry of the Interior in August 2018, involves police paying citizens $25 to $250 for each illegally owned weapon they restore to the government. Turning in grenade launchers, machine guns and sniper rifles will generate the highest rewards, but Kyrgyzstan will also offer monetary compensation for hunting rifles and individual hand grenades. During riots in April and June 2010, which resulted in the resignation of the government, military units reported the loss of an estimated 865…
UNIPATH STAFF NATO has reiterated its desire for Saudi Arabia and Oman to form a cooperative partnership with the North American-European alliance. NATO opened a regional center in Kuwait in 2017, part of an effort to increase security cooperation with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in the face of threats from Iran. The alliance’s Istanbul Cooperative Initiative of 2004 led to a deeper relationship with Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. But that wasn’t the case with the GCC region’s biggest military power, Saudi Arabia. At its Brussels Summit in July 2018, NATO extended a welcome not just…
SALTANAT BERDIKEEVA Uzbekistan has removed thousands of its citizens from blacklists containing names of people accused of extremism. Since 2017, Uzbekistan has rehabilitated or cleared the names of more than 18,000 citizens, providing thousands with jobs and credits to open businesses. Many were readmitted into society after government officials interviewed clergy, citizens groups, relatives and neighbors and determined they posed little threat. “If we do not show generosity to these people … and not give them a helping hand, they will remain pariahs of the society,” Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said. The country stressed the importance of rehabilitating not only…
Iraq and Jordan signed a military cooperation agreement in August 2018 to improve joint security in the post-Daesh era. Then Iraqi Defense Minister Irfan Mahmoud Al Hayali signed the bilateral deal in Amman with Jordanian Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Freihat. Also present at the signing was Iraqi Ambassador to Jordan Safia al-Suhail and senior military officers. “The agreement aims to exchange expertise and information in the fields of border protection, developing intelligence capabilities, joint military exercises, research and technology development, combating terrorism in various forms, training and development,” the Iraqi Ministry of Defense…