Joint anti-terrorism efforts of SCO countries bear fruit - RATS Executive Committee head
TASHKENT. Oct 27 (Interfax) - Joint efforts of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries in the suppression of international terrorist organizations have borne fruit, SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) Executive Committee Director Yevgeny Sysoyev said on Thursday.
"This activity has been productive," he said at a scientific and practical conference in Tashkent.
Last year alone, eight citizens of Uzbekistan involved in international terrorist organizations were detained in Russia thanks to the information provided by the Uzbek National Security Service. They were extradited to the home country and stood trial. Criminal charges were brought against another four members of international terrorist organizations, Sysoyev said.
The Federal Security Service, jointly with the Tajik law enforcement authorities, identified and detained 50 followers of various terrorist organizations, he said.
The activity of 20 Kyrgyz members of international terrorist organizations was stopped in collaboration with Kyrgyz partners, Sysoyev said.
"A commendable result was the suppression, jointly with security agencies of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, of recruitment by international terrorist organizations' emissaries conducted on transnational trains routed from those countries to Russia via Kazakhstan," Sysoyev said.
Coordinated defense of national cyber space against terrorist threats is a priority of the SCO RATS, he said.
Joint measures taken by security agencies blocked access to over 500 websites and nearly 200,000 terrorist materials during 2015, he said.
A joint anti-terrorist drill targeting terrorist, separatist and extremist materials posted online was another step towards upgrading the interaction mechanism, he said, adding that the first SCO drill of the kind was held in China in 2015.
SCO member countries and observer states began the scientific and practical conference on cooperation in the suppression of international terrorism and extremism in Tashkent on Thursday.
The SCO comprises Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Observer status has been granted to Belarus, Mongolia, India, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The accession of India and Pakistan to the SCO began in July 2015. Memoranda on the acceptance of obligations by India and Pakistan were signed at the SCO summit in Tashkent on June 24. The 2017 summit in Astana is due to approve their full membership in the organization.
The SCO RATS was established in 2004. It is headquartered in Tashkent.
