Proactive Approach to Counter Terrorism

26-27 October 2017 - Two-Day Training

Bhurban - National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), in collaboration with the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Country Office Pakistan (UNODC),organized a two-day (26-27 October 2017 ) workshop on "Proactive Approach to Counter Terrorism" at PC Bhurban, Murree. The workshop brought together 32 participants from provincial and federal agencies to discuss and develop a common understanding of threat assessments as part of a proactive approach to counter terrorism. 

During the opening session, Mr. Muhammad Jafer, Director General (Counter Terrorism) NACTA along with Mr. Syed Arslan, Advisor for the Pakistan's Action to Counter Terrorism (PACT) Project, thanked the participants and highlighted the importance of the workshop. Later they both delivered presentations on the organizational mandates and roles of NACTA and UNODC. 

The facilitators of the workshop Brigadier (R) Khalid Saleem and Ms. Olivia Hyvrier gave presentations on the framework for developing threat assessments and apprised the participants on the historical perspective of terrorism in Europe, especially in France. They also introduced the threat and risk assessment models and practices put in place by the European Union. 

On the second day of the workshop, the participants were divided into groups to conduct a case study by assessing a threat scenario and identifying appropriate measures at tactical, operational and strategic levels. 

During the closing session of the workshop, UNODC Country Representative Mr. César Guedes appreciated the efforts of the Government of Pakistan in combatting terrorism and assured the participants of UNODC's continuous support.  

In concluding remarks, Mr. Ihsan Ghani, National Coordinator of NACTA thanked all the participants and highlighted the recent initiatives undertaken by NACTA including the development of a National Narrative to counter extremism. He informed the participants that under the PACT project, NACTA would continue to organize workshops in the near future. 

As a token of appreciation National Coordinator of NACTA and UNODC Country Representative jointly distributed certificates to the participants.