OSCE conducts border security workshop

HELSINKI, Finland, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Security authorities from Central Asia are in Finland for a training course designed to counter transnational terrorism and other threats to border security.

The Central Asian law enforcement and other security officials are attending a five-day training seminar, organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which began Monday in Finland.

Representatives from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will learn new techniques as part of an effort to counter terrorism and illicit drug and small-arms trafficking through the region, the OSCE reported.

Officials say the border security training workshop is also part of an effort to counter spillover insurgent threats posed by the increasingly volatile conditions in Afghanistan.

"We believe that the Finnish experience and methodologies in the field will be beneficial to our Central Asian guests," Aleksi Harkonen, head of the Finnish OSCE Chairmanship Task Force, said in a statement.

"We are also eager to learn more from them on existing threats to border security in their respective countries and the region."