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KABUL (TCA) — The leader of Afghanistan’s Taliban has said there can be no peace in the country as long as foreign “occupation” goes on. In an August 18 statement to mark the Eid al-Adha holiday, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada repeated that the Taliban remain committed to “Islamic goals” and the sovereignty of Afghanistan, RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan reports.
TCA
ALMATY (TCA) — The U.S. Mission to Kazakhstan together with the Border Guard Service Academy (BGSA) of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan on August 17 celebrated the opening of a new ‘Practical Interdiction Training Territory’. The hands-on training facility is located at the BGSA in Almaty and was supported by the U.S. State Department’s Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) program. Deputy Chief of Mission Theodore Lyng delivered opening remarks at the ceremony along with the Deputy Director of the BGSA, Colonel Daulet Zhumabekov. Participants included the U.S. Diplomatic Mission representatives and personnel of the BGSA.
TCA
DUSHANBE (TCA) — The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe donated technical equipment to the press centre of Tajikistan’s Committee of Emergency Situations and Civil Defence at a handover ceremony on 17 August in Dushanbe. The equipment will be used for broadcasting from locations where disasters occur, thus contributing to capacity building of journalists reporting on disasters, increasing the quality of coverage and preventing the spreading of inaccurate information.
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ASHGABAT (TCA) — On 14-16 August, the OSCE Mobile Training Team delivered an interactive course on identifying foreign terrorist fighters for officers of Turkmenistan’s border and migration services in Ashgabat. The deployment of the Training Team was organized by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department, with the support of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat and in close cooperation with the host country.
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ASTANA (TCA) — The first container train with a batch of non-ferrous metals was sent from Kazakhstan’s rail station Novoustkamenogorsk to the Turkish port of Derince. The train of 88-mi 20-foot containers will follow along the Trans-Caspian Transport Route (TITR) through the port of Kuryk and the water area of the Caspian Sea. The cargo will be delivered to Istanbul within 15 days, the press service of Kazakhstan’s KTZ Express company said on August 16.
TCA
BISHKEK (TCA) — Kyrgyzstan says it will set up a special police force to provide security for tourists who visit the Central Asian nation. The move follows examples set by neighboring Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reports.
