November 9, 2022
The delegation of the CIS Anti-Terrorism Center led by its Head Colonel General E.S. Sysoev took part in the 8th International Scientific and Practical Conference of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure titled “Contemporary Security: Challenges and Solutions” on November 8-9, 2022 in Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan.
The event brought together representatives of SCO member-states, including India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan; CSO observer-states (Belarus, Mongolia); SCO dialogue partner-states (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye); SCO Secretariat; representatives of specialized structures of the international and regional organizations; civil society institutions.
The conference offered an opportunity to exchange views on topical aspects of counteraction to contemporary challenges and threats posed by international terrorist organizations. The delegates reviewed trends and specificity of transformation of the terrorist threats in the SCO area, discussed the practice and operational mechanisms of counteraction at the national level and expressed their concern over situation in Afghanistan which creates hotbeds of tension at the borders of the SCO member-states.
In his statement the CIS ATC Head presented assessment of terrorist threats in the CIS area, stressing that the deteriorating social-economic situation, rising ethnical and confessional divisions, flourishing trans-border crime and drug trafficking, increase in banditry and activation of inter-clan fighting, growing threats of humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan multiply the danger of situation destabilization in the Central-Asian region.
Among the security threats, the conference participants highlighted active terrorist and extremist use of modern information-communication technologies, proliferation of the terrorist and extremist ideas and youth engagement in extremist activity.
Having discussed possible steps of strengthening international anti-terrorist cooperation, the conference attendees noted a necessity to improve the existing mechanisms and measures of counteraction to contemporary means used by terrorist and extremists. The parties underlined the importance of enhanced cooperation between the competent authorities at all levels in the interest of information exchange, search for wanted persons, improvement of algorithms of coordinated operations, strengthening of border control, and training of anti-terrorist units’ personnel.
The CIS ATC Head on the sidelines of the conference held a meeting with Director of SCO RATS Executive Directorate R.E. Mirzaev during which the parties discussed improvement of legal frameworks of cooperation and conduct of the anti-terrorist drill in the territory of Kyrgyzstan in 2023, and a meeting with recently appointed Coordinator of Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team of the UN Security Council Committees Justin Hustwitt during which the Coordinator was familiarized with the main lines of the Center’s activity.
