AKIPRESS.COM - Thirteen middle-rank border police officers from the northern border of Afghanistan completed a five-day executive general patrol course on September 30.

Organized in the capital of Turkmenistan by the OSCE Center in Ashgabat and the UNDP's Border Management Northern Afghanistan (BOMNAF) Project, the course introduced participants to the types and forms of topographical maps with the aim of improving their professional capabilities in collecting and analyzing information and enhancing their reconnaissance, observation and communication skills.

Participants also discussed the importance of gender awareness and recent trends in gender equality and human rights monitoring.

Natalya Drozd, Head of the OSCE Center in Ashgabat, said: “We organized this training course to support international efforts in fostering bilateral relations between the governments of these two countries, which share a long border and are willing to contribute to strengthening the capacities of the border troops.”

The course is a component of an OSCE extra-budgetary project on strengthening border guard capacities in Turkmenistan, which  is being implemented with the financial support of the governments of Germany, Luxembourg and the United States of America.