AKIPRESS.COM - A ten-day regional Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) course facilitated by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan concluded in Dushanbe.

The course was hosted by Tajikstan’s Defense Ministry and facilitated by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan in partnership with the U.S. Central Command, and supported by the Office for Military Cooperation of the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe.

Eighteen students from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan attended the training course. It marks the beginning of a comprehensive train-the-trainer program in accordance with international standards on mine action to be implemented at a later stage. The training program will benefit four states in the region which will receive certified EOD trainers, training curricula and materials that will enable them to disseminate the information further.

Mukhabbat Ibrokhimzoda, Director of Tajikistan National Mine Action Center, said: “The Tajikistan National Mine Action Center welcomes such regional training programs that will allow us to certify successful training candidates in accordance with the international standards.”