NATO trains Iraqi Security Forces to strengthen demining skills

Twenty-one students from the Ministry of Defence attended the course. Upon completion seventeen of them were certified as instructors; four were awarded with certificates of basic demining."Most of the students were experienced explosive ordnance disposal personel and were really eager to learn new techniques," the Commander of the Slovak Training Team, 2^ndLieutenant Lukáš Cabovsky,said.

Following the liberation of Iraq from Da’esh/ISIS, more clearance of explosives is required. ‎Civilians are often the victims, as Da’esh/ISIS are reported to have planted bombs and other explosive devices in heavily populated areas, as well as in schools and parks. To deal with this, NATO is helping to build a sustainable Iraqi demining capacity by conducting a series of training activities for future Iraqi instructors. "Our contribution is focused exclusively on carrying out training tasks and on providing advice and assistance in support of the Iraqi forces," 2nd Lieutenant Cabovsky highlighted.

Other training courses and seminars already conducted in the framework of NATO's training and capacity building activities in support of Iraqi security forces and institutions have focused on countering improvised explosive devices, maintenance of Soviet-era armoured vehicles, military medicine, civil-military cooperation, reform of security institutions, and civil emergency planning to deal with natural emergencies.