Law enforcement, defence and security personnel from the region are now better equipped to combat terrorism after attending a seminar on the subject.
The five-day trans-regional seminar on combatting terrorism was organised by
the Joint Special Operations University (JSOU), the Defence Combatting Terrorism Fellowship (CTFP) and the US embassy.
It took place from August 29 to September 2 at the Coast Guard Training Base at Ile Perseverance.
The 30 delegates from Morocco, Afghanistan, Benin, Cameroun, Kenya, Mali, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Nigeria and Seychelles received their certificate on Friday at the close of the seminar.
During the seminar, the delegates were able to identify and analyse regional and trans-regional combatting terrorism capabilities, challenges and opportunities.
Present at the certificate presentation ceremony were the Chief of Staff of the Seychelles People’s Defence Forces (SPDF) Colonel Michael Rosette, the Joint Special Operation at the University of Tampa, Florida Carlos Burgos, along with senior SPDF and police officers.
Col. Rosette pointed out that such training will enhance the abilities of all delegates present.
“It is obvious that you all have different and varying levels of experience as regard to terrorism, as well as special operations. Some of you present here have had firsthand experience of the devastating effect of terrorism, as your respective countries constantly battle to deal with it on a daily basis, while others have had much less experience,” he said.
He added that each country must come together to combat terrorism in many ways.
“It is important therefore, that we all collaborate and have a concerted approach to deal with it, as experience has shown that no country, however powerful it may be, can do it alone,” he said.
The Chief of Staff concluded by saying that Seychelles is constantly finding ways to further improve interoperability and interagency collaboration.
“Very soon, we will see the activation of the Regional Operation Coordination Centre based here in Seychelles which will greatly enhance our region’s capacity to deal with the increasing threats of wider maritime crimes,” he said.
One of the delegates, Lieutenant Colonel Vincent Luther, stated that such training will equip all the countries present with better abilities to tackle terrorism, even Seychelles.
The seminar was designed to strengthen ties between combatting terrorism practitioners in these two critical regions by facilitating dialogue on terrorism issues.
