DUSHANBE, February 7, 2015, Asia-Plus – On Friday February 6, The United States Embassy’s Office of Military Cooperation, in partnership with the United States Department of Defense’s Center for Civil-Military Relations (CCMR) hosted a Countering Violent Extremism Seminar involving over 20 military officers from Tajikistan who gathered together to discuss religious-based violent extremism.

This seminar was the fourth on this theme in the past two years.

According to the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, U.S. subject matter experts facilitated the four day event aimed at helping officers learn about developing strategies for preventing and responding to religious violence.  The seminar helped these officers learn about working with religious communities and also addressed in detail how the many agencies and ministries of the government can work together to maximize efficiencies and increase effectiveness to counter religious radicalization.

The Embassy’s Office of Military Cooperation (OMC) conducts a variety of training, equipping, and partnership activities with the Tajik armed forces and security agencies, including counterterrorism, counternarcotics, border security, UN peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, demining, and other areas. OMC administers U.S. Central Command’s military partnership program, of which this event is a part, conducting approximately 80 events in Tajikistan and the United States each year.  Since 2003, OMC has coordinated nearly $200 million of security assistance to Tajikistan.