MOSCOW, 18 February (BelTA) - Priorities of CIS cooperation in the fight against terrorism were outlined at a meeting of the heads of the national anti-terrorist centers of the CIS member states in Moscow on 18 February, BelTA learned from the press center of the CIS Anti-Terrorism Center (CIS ATC).
The CIS ATC has outlined the following short-term priorities of cooperation in the fight against terrorism and extremism: to counter the activities of lone terrorists and ‘sleeper cells' of terrorist organizations, to promote interstate cooperation to identify them; to carry out filtration and preventive work with persons returning from areas of increased terrorist activity; to promote counter-terrorism ideology - to step up counter-propaganda and information to fight against destructive processes; to counter the financing of members of international terrorist organizations; to step up the cooperation in interstate and international manhunt in the CIS,” the press center said.
Head of the CIS ATC Andrei Novikov stressed that the agenda of the meeting relies on the assessment of terrorist threats to the CIS states in the short term, the pre-agreed priorities of cooperation in counteracting terrorism and extremism. According to him, the event is meant to solve the practical tasks of combating terrorism, to harmonize the positions of the competent authorities, and to develop well-proven practices in this area.
“Participants in the meeting mentioned a number of trends and factors affecting the security of the CIS member states today. Among them is the development of ‘sleeper cells' comprising persons who return from active combat zones; further recruitment for terrorist and extremist groups; dissemination of terrorist and extremist content; use of new technologies, robots and new achievements in digital technology for terrorist purposes,” the press bureau said.
A working meeting of representatives of the CIS special services took place on the sidelines of the conference to discuss the preparation for a joint anti-terrorist exercise, Caspian Antiterror 2020. Its key issues will be related the Caspian region security technologies. Work is currently underway to develop a scenario line for the exercise and decide on the participants.
Taking part in the conference were delegations of security bodies and special services of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, representatives of charter bodies and industry-wise cooperation bodies of the CIS member states, partner international structures – the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Secretariat of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
The current conference of chiefs of the antiterrorism centers of the Commonwealth of Independent States member states is held as part of the CIS cooperation program to fight terrorism and other violent manifestations of extremism. A plenary session of the scientific advisory board under the CIS Anti-Terrorism Center will take place on 19 February to discuss ways to counteract the use of robot technologies for terrorist purposes.
