By Papisdaff Abdullah.
The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training center is to provide comprehensive anti-terrorism training for West African nations.
The move follows recent terror attacks on peacekeeping troops in Mali and Burkina Faso. The UNDP has recorded several terrorist attacks in Africa with more than 160 peacekeepers killed in Mali alone.
Speaking at the launch of a project to improve response capacities to terrorism in peace keeping centers in Africa, the Commandant at the Kofi Annan Peace keeping center (KIPTC), Air vice Marshall Griffith’s Evans told the gathering the center is engaging 8 key troop contributing countries in West Africa to explore ways to combat terror attacks in peacekeeping centers.
“Through this project, the KIPTC is utilizing its in-house technical expertise to consult with 8 key troop contributing countries in West Africa and relevant United Nations agencies in the sub-region to explore with them options for addressing the issues of terror attacks in peacekeeping theaters,” said the Commandant of the KIPTC.
“Ultimately,” he continued “we shall provide a guide and training package for these countries.”
The KIPTC, he said, intends to “share our output with ECOWAS in the hope of that ECOWAS will build on our work to develop a sub-regional guide for its members that provide troops for the ECOWAS standby force.”
