ata 2016 v18 - state.gov · pdf fileata 2016 on the cover: ... september 28, 2015, ata...

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATEBUREAU OF DIPLOMATIC SECURITYIN PARTNERSHIP WITHBUREAU OF COUNTERTERRORISM

2016

ATA

2016

On the cover:

Law enforcement offi cers carry a “wounded victim”

to safety during the East Africa Joint Operations

capstone exercise in Nairobi, Kenya, August 14, 2016.

(U.S. Department of State photo)

OFFICE OF ANTITERRORISM ASSISTANCE 2016

53 Partner Nations Received ATA Assistance

572 Deliveries of Training Courses, Consultations, Equipment, and Workshops

10,336 Participants Received ATA Training and Assistance

9,743 Male

593 Female

ATAby the numbers

for FY 2016


2

The U.S. Department of State’s Antiterrorism

Assistance (ATA) program plays a key role in our strategy of building partner nation law enforcement capacity and ensuring that our partners are prepared to handle the terrorism challenges they face.

The mission of the ATA program remains clear and focused: to enhance the capabilities of partner nations in the detection, deterrence, and prevention of acts of terrorism, the resolution of terrorism incidents when they do occur, and the apprehension and prosecution of those involved in such acts, all within a rule-of-law framework that promotes respect for human rights. Through training, mentoring, and the provision of

equipment, ATA helps our law enforcement partners build their capacity to detect, deter, disrupt, and investigate terrorism activities and suspects.

Initially developed to ensure the safety of U.S. diplomats and embassy staff abroad, the ATA program has evolved into the primary provider of U.S. government training and equipment to strengthen the critical antiterrorism capabilities of partner nations’ law enforcement agencies. The ATA program actively supports 53 partner nations and since its inception has successfully delivered services to more than 100,000 law enforcement personnel from 154 countries.

In 2016, ATA witnessed numerous examples of how foreign partner nations

Executive Message The global terrorist threat continues to evolve

rapidly. The United States is focused on the defeat

of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, combating a resurgent

al-Qa’ida and addressing the challenges from

Iranian-sponsored terrorism across the world. To

address this complex and diffuse set of threats, the

United States needs strong and capable partners

that can counter the developing threats and

ultimately keep America and its interests secure.

While military and intelligence efforts remain

critical, the success of our counterterrorism efforts

increasingly depends on capable civilian partners.


Christian J. SchurmanDeputy Assistant Secretary for International Programs Bureau of Diplomatic Security

Alina L. RomanowskiActing Principal Deputy Coordinator Bureau of Counterterrorismand Countering Violent Extremism

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have directly applied training and assistance programs to real-world incidents. The Nigerian police successfully applied ATA training in evidence collection techniques and forensic skills after a major bombing incident. ATA-trained Pakistani bomb technicians disarmed improvised explosive devices (IEDs) capable of infl icting mass casualties. Bangladesh’s new SWAT capability has disrupted several terrorist attacks.

In addition to these real-world successes, ATA expanded its regional training programs; saw more ATA-trained offi cers training other law enforcement partners from their own country and from other nations; and pioneered efforts in joint multinational

exercises intended to better prepare partner nations for real-world scenarios.

ATA has also extended its cyber-training portfolio to provide partner nations greater capabilities to investigate and disrupt terrorist forces operating on the dark web and in social media. Additionally, ATA is opening regional training centers in Africa and in the Middle East that will be equipped to instruct tactical police units on the front lines of counterterrorism. Overall, the ATA program successes over this past fi scal year that are documented in this Year in Review again demonstrate ATA’s continued results in building counterterrorism capacity with foreign partners.

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Increasing the overall response capabilities of explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams within Nigeria is a priority of the U.S. Department of State’s Antiterrorism Assistance Program

(ATA). Numerous training sessions were conducted in FY 2016 that focused on bolstering skill sets at both the operational and command levels. Equipment caches were provided and a training exercise was conducted to ensure that all participants were thoroughly immersed in the process of building a sustainable response capability.

During a training session that began on September 28, 2015, ATA personnel delivered a training module called Explosive Incident Countermeasures, which focused on honing the EOD teams’ tactical response procedures and post-blast investigation skills. ATA also provided fi rst responder medical stabilization training to medical emergency responders. Upon the conclusion of this training,

an exercise was held that integrated these medical fi rst responders into a series of multifaceted mass-casualty, post-blast investigation and tactical EOD response scenarios.

On October 2, 2015, the day before the exercise, four suicide bombers detonated explosive devices at multiple locations on the outskirts of Abuja. Two of the bombers struck at Nyanya Motor Park in eastern Abuja, which had been the site of previous vehicle bomb attacks in April and May of 2014. The other two bombers detonated their explosives at a market and a police station in Kuje, approximately 25 miles southwest of Abuja. The attacks left six people dead in the Nyanya bombings and 15 dead in the Kuje attack, according to Nigerian government sources.

Personnel from Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) who were participating in the ATA training responded to the attacks. The ATA NEMA students said the techniques taught by ATA instructors, just fi ve hours before the incidents, were applied to the victims and helped save lives. One ATA NEMA student said he

ATA Training Saves Lives in Aftermath of Nigeria Bombing

First responders trained

by ATA attended to

victims of an attack by

two suicide bombers

at the Nyanya Motor

Park, October 2, 2015.

The blasts killed six

people and caused

signifi cant damage to

nearby structures. (AP/

WideWorld Photos)


5

stabilized a victim suffering a shrapnel wound to the chest by utilizing a sucking chest wound procedure he learned in the ATA training. Another ATA NEMA responder reported that the ATA training helped him immediately identify and appropriately attend to a victim with an intestinal evisceration. The ATA training also enabled the NEMA students to classify the trauma level of the victims and triage more effectively.

At the same time, several of the ATA EOD students—in addition to other EOD law enforcement offi cers previously trained by ATA—responded to the attacks to clear the area of potential secondary devices and cordon off the blast sites. The attack locations were thoroughly investigated pursuant to standardized post-blast investigation techniques taught by ATA. As a result, numerous pieces of evidence were collected, and the affected areas returned to normal in an effi cient manner.

In addition, several Nigerian Red Cross volunteers supporting the October 3 mass-casualty exercise also deployed to the attack, attending to attack victims and providing support

to medical personnel. Upon returning to the ATA exercise, an ATA instructor facilitated a discussion with the Red Cross volunteers about the bombings and the actions they took to save lives.

There is no greater validation of the success of a program than when the skills, knowledge, and abilities taught during a course are applied in actual situations. As the responses to these violent incidents demonstrate, the ATA program plays a vital role in supporting U.S. law enforcement partners with training and skills needed to support their counterterrorism efforts.

ATA-trained fi rst

responders and

investigators

responded to the

scene of an attack by

two suicide bombers

at the Nyanya Motor

Park, October 2, 2015.

The blasts killed six

people and caused

signifi cant damage to

nearby structures. (AP/

WideWorld Photos)


6

ATA-Trained Bomb Disposal Squads Defuse Explosive Devices, Avert TragedyThe ATA program has had a signifi cant impact on Pakistani law enforcement agencies’ capability to protect innocent lives against terrorist bombs.

On May 12, 2016, two police offi cers with the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) in Quetta, Pakistan, responded to a report of a suspicious bag near the perimeter wall of the Pakistan Passport Offi ce.

As other offi cers cordoned off the area, the ATA-trained BDS offi cers discovered a four-kilogram improvised explosive device inside the bag and rendered it safe.

The offi cer in charge of the Quetta BDS said all members of his bomb squad are ATA-trained.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, a police offi cer who had recently graduated from ATA’s Explosive Incident Countermeasure training successfully helped defuse two bombs near the Arbab Sikandar Khan Flyover near the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan, on January 21, 2016.

The devices, weighing approximately one kilogram each, had been planted near the Gul Bahar Police Station.

One week later, on January 28, 2016, police were called to the outskirts of Jhelum, about 65 miles southeast of Rawalpindi, where a man was reportedly planting explosives on the railroad track near Grand Trunk Road in Domeli Mor.

During the encounter with the police, the suspected terrorist blew himself up, but an undetonated explosive device remained.

That device was defused and rendered safe by the head of the Rawalpindi Bomb Disposal Squad, who had been trained by ATA.

Thanks to ATA training, Pakistani bomb-disposal teams continue to save lives and prevent tragedy from terrorist explosive devices.

ATA-trained bomb technicians in Quetta found and defused this explosive device consisting of explosives and shrapnel packed inside a pipe, May 12, 2016. (Photo courtesy of Balochistan Police)


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ATA-Trained Lebanese Forces Win International ‘Warrior Competition’The commander of Lebanon’s Black Panthers, an elite SWAT team within the Lebanese Internal Security Forces, credits ATA training for his unit’s victory at the 2016 Special Operations Forces Exhibition (SOFEX) Warrior Competition in Amman, Jordan.

In an interview with a Lebanese television program, Maj. Wissam Fakhoury said the training his offi cers received from the United States and the ATA program contributed to their success.

Lebanon beat 26 other teams to become the fi rst Arab team to take fi rst place at the May 2-6, 2016 event, which was held at the King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Centre (KASOTC).

Sponsored by the Jordanian armed forces, SOFEX is an international competition in which elite special operations, counterterrorism, and law enforcement forces compete in a variety of tactical events. The competition tests participants’ skills in marksmanship, endurance, teamwork, tactics, and communications.

(Top) Members of Lebanon’s

ATA-trained Black Panthers

SWAT team proudly display their

national fl ag and trophy upon

becoming the fi rst Arab team

to win fi rst place at Jordan’s

SOFEX Warrior Competition,

May 6, 2016, Amman, Jordan.

(Photo courtesy of Lebanese

Internal Security Forces)

(Bottom) Parpicipants

run the obstacle course

at the May 2-6, 2016 SOFEX

Warrior Competion in Amman,

Jordan. (Photo courtesy

of Lebanese Internal

Security Forces)

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Morocco and United States Host Inaugural Trilateral ATA Course

ATA is working with its Moroccan partners to develop antiterrorist training, including border security

and terrorist investigations, for three other nations in northwest Africa. Under this trilateral initiative, Moroccan instructors have provided ATA courses to Senegal and are currently identifying additional third party countries to train.

The initiative is rooted in an accord called the Framework for Cooperation on Training for Civilian Security Services that Moroccan and U.S. offi cials signed in 2014. The framework aimed to strengthen regional counterterrorism capabilities by developing Morocco’s training expertise in the areas of crisis management, border security, and terrorism-related investigations.

ATA-trained Moroccan trainers launched the new trilateral training initiative on December 14, 2015, by hosting the fi rst of several Moroccan-taught ATA courses at the Moroccan National Police Academy in Kenitra. During the 7-day training, Moroccan

instructors, with assistance and mentorship from ATA personnel, delivered a course in critical incident management to fi ve members of the Senegalese National Police and four Senegalese Gendarmes.

In addition to the classroom training, the Senegalese participants visited the Moroccan Ministry of Interior’s National Crisis Management Center, where senior offi cials emphasized the crucial role a national center plays in providing support and coordination to incident commanders in the fi eld. This course and the visit to the crisis management center proved very relevant to the students, as Senegal is working to establish its own national crisis management center.

One of the Senegalese participants declared that the training was timely and would enable his law enforcement agency to fi ll the gaps it faces.

Another trainee said the ATA course would increase his personal capacity to handle emergency incidents. “These course materials will make me feel more confi dent. In the past, I may have made mistakes. What we learned here will allow for better actions,” he said.

Rachid Abdellaoui, an offi cial with Morocco’s Interior Ministry, discusses management of critical incidents with Senegalese law enforcement offi cers, December 15, 2016. The Senegalese offi cers were in Morocco for ATA training provided by Moroccan instructors at the Moroccan National Police Academy in Kenitra. (U.S. Department of State photo)


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ATA-Trained Kenyan Police Service Offi cers Help Kenyan Rangers Build Training CapacityOn February 29, 2016, three law enforcement offi cers from the Kenya Police Service’s General Service Unit began training the fi rst of two groups of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Rangers in tactical operations at the KWS Manyani Field Training Center.

The Kenya Police Service offi cers, members of a crisis response team and graduates of previous ATA tactical instruction, provided the 30 Rangers with one week of ATA training on tactical medicine and a second week on tactical operations in low-light and nighttime conditions.

The training serves as a force multiplier to Kenya’s antiterrorism efforts, as the KWS Rangers provide a law enforcement presence in remote parklands along the nation’s porous border areas.

The Kenya Police Service offi cers shared their ATA-acquired skills with a

second group of 30 KWS Rangers during a second training session on these same tactical operations from March 21 to April 1, 2016.

Participants learned to provide emergency life-saving measures in tactical situations and to operate in low-visibility conditions where no electrical power exists or power has been deliberately turned off. The police trainers were able to share some of their ATA-provided tactical medical equipment with the KWS Rangers, including tourniquets, bandages, and other supplies used in responding to critical incidents.

The trainings demonstrate how Kenya Police Service offi cials have internalized ATA training and are using it to train sister agencies and maximize law enforcement capacity to prevent terrorist activity and sustain capability.

ATA-trained Kenya Police Service offi cers provide ATA instruction to Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Rangers at the KWS Field Training Center in Manyani, Kenya, March 21, 2016. (Photo courtesy of Kenya Police Service)


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ATA-Trained Philippine Police Capture Terrorist Suspects, Disarm ExplosivesOn June 3, 2016, ATA-trained Philippine National Police (PNP) explosive ordnance disposal personnel participated in an early-morning raid on a suspected terrorist safe house in Butuan City, on the Philippines island of Mindanao.

The PNP offi cers arrested four suspected members of the terrorist organization, Communist Party of Philippines/New People’s Army, and discovered weapons and several explosive devices in their possession.

By using an ATA-donated x-ray machine, the PNP bomb technicians evaluated and rendered safe an anti-personnel mine, a commercial electric blasting cap, an improvised electric blasting cap, and two fragmentation hand grenades.

The disarming operation was led by a PNP offi cer who had graduated from ATA explosives incident training.

(Top) Police present terrorist suspects along with seized weapons captured in a June 3, 2016, raid in Butuan City, Philippines. ATA-trained police disarmed explosive devices encountered during the operation. (Photo courtesy of Philippine National Police)

(Center) ATA-trained Philippine National Police bomb technicians recovered and rendered safe these explosive devices encountered during a June 3, 2016, raid in Butuan City, Philippines. (Photo courtesy of Philippine National Police)

(Bottom) This M33 fragmentation grenade was among the devices rendered safe by ATA-trained Philippine National Police bomb technicians following a June 3, 2016, raid in Butuan City, Philippines, that resulted in the arrest of four terrorist suspects. (Photo courtesy of Philippine National Police)


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East Africa Joint Operations Capstone ExerciseMore than 150 law enforcement offi cers from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda participated in the 2016 East Africa Joint Operations (EAJO) capstone exercise in Nairobi, Kenya, on August 14-15, 2016. The exercise simulated an urban mass-casualty attack similar to the 2013 Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi.

EAJO provided weeks of intensive training to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement agencies from the participating nations to respond effectively to simulated terrorist attacks in a major urban environment.

The capstone exercise was designed to test and enhance participants’ responses to such an attack at the senior policy, operational, and tactical levels. Prior to the live exercise, ATA tailored each country’s training to complement its role in the larger EAJO exercise. Training deliveries for some participants included the newly added courses of Sharp Shooter Observer Consultation, Mid-Level Terrorism Investigations, and Joint Counterterrorism Task Force operations. All of the participants then applied and tested their

skills in a series of realistic, on-the-ground scenarios throughout a 24-hour period.

The EAJO training and capstone exercise were successful, with all three countries’ participants working and coordinating together to accomplish the exercise mission scenarios. The ATA instructors provided excellent oversight and guidance to the participants, ensuring that the exercise was a valuable learning experience for the law enforcement offi cers and offi cials from the three participating nations.

An ATA-trained crisis

response team approaches

a simulated mass-casualty

incident during the three-

nation EAJO capstone

exercise, August 14, 2016,

in Nairobi. (U.S. Department

of State photo)


Building Capacity in Jordan, Kenya, and Senegal

12

FOCUS ON REGIONAL TRAINING:

Following on the success of its regional training

center in Amman, Jordan, ATA is developing

a similar initiative in Kanyonyo, Kenya, that is

projected to be operational in fall of 2018, as

well as a third regional training program in Thies,

Senegal, that is projected to be operational in late

spring 2018. The new African regional training

centers will increase the capacity and collaboration

of security and law enforcement agencies across

West and East African borders to respond to,

investigate, and disrupt terrorism. These new

partnerships will mirror the Jordanian regional

training center concept by providing ATA a venue

where partner nations can receive both hard- and

soft-skills training.

The new training centers are expected to reduce

the costs of ATA’s hard-skills training. An ATA

analysis of costs for U.S.-based hard-skills

domestic training in prior fi scal years determined

that shifting hard-skills training from U.S. facilities

to overseas regional training centers would yield

substantial cost savings.


JORDAN

ATA uses this facility to build and enhance the tactical and counterterrorism capabilities for law enforcement and security personnel from regional partner nations so that those offi cers can respond more effectively to

terrorism activity within their borders.

By using vetted and experienced U.S. instructors, ATA’s regional training program in Jordan provided 456 foreign law enforcement personnel with hard-skills training

in FY 2016. The primary courses delivered were: Explosives Incident Countermeasures, Post Blast Investigations, Crisis Response Team, and Rural Border Patrol Operations.

SINCE JULY 2008, JORDAN HAS PROVIDED ATA WITH A PREMIER REGIONAL TRAINING VENUE FOR CONDUCTING HARD-SKILLS TRAINING COURSES AT THE JORDAN INTERNATIONAL POLICE TRAINING CENTER (JIPTC), A COMPONENT OF THE JORDAN PUBLIC SECURITY DIRECTORATE (PSD).

“The Jordan International Police Training

Center would like to commend the ATA

regional training program for all the great

training that is conducted at JIPTC. The

ATA program is not only good for the

security forces from the visiting countries,

but also for Jordan Public Security

Directorate. The specialized training given

to the offi cers will help them fi ght terrorism

in their countries. As the commander of

Jordan International Police Training Center,

my offi ce will always support our training

partners from the United States.”

—Col. Bassam H. Abu ZaidJIPTC PSD Commander

“We look forward to further cooperation and

exchange of experiences and coordination

with the friendly American side in the fi elds

of combating terrorism and extremism,

which will contribute to enhancing

participants’ performance, effi ciency,

and professionalism.”

—Maj. Gen. Hussein Mohammed AlhawatmehJordanian General Directorate of Gendarmerie

13

(Photo courtesy of Jordanian General

Directorate of Gendarmerie)

(Photo courtesy of Jordan Public Security Directorate)


Law enforcement partners from Algeria, Chad, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Tajikistan have received ATA training through the JIPTC. The visiting offi cers bring a baseline of experience and training, and after completing the ATA courses, the students return to their respective countries with an increased level of confi dence and knowledge to share with their fellow offi cers.

ATA also is expanding its regional training program in Jordan by partnering with the Jordanian Gendarmerie to provide new facilities for ATA use at the Gendarmerie Institute for Human Rights and Peace Support Training Center in Swaqqa, Jordan.

At the Gendarmerie’s

institute, ATA is constructing three explosive ordnance disposal ranges, storage bunkers, a shoot house for indoor armed tactical operations training, and a large exterior tactical area to conduct practical exercises. The entire project is expected to be completed by September 2017.

ATA’s regional training program in Jordan also has supported the security forces of partner nations participating in the U.S. Department of State’s Special Program for Embassy Augmentation and Response (SPEAR).

The SPEAR program enhances the security of high-threat, high-risk U.S. diplomatic posts by providing training and loaned equipment to host-nation security forces that are assigned to respond to emergencies at U.S. diplomatic facilities, but who otherwise could be inadequately trained or equipped to perform that mission effectively.

In fi scal year 2016, ATA used JIPTC to train 48 SPEAR participants from South Sudan in quick reaction force operations and tactical medicine.

(1) An Algerian police offi cer approaches a suspicious device during ATA’s seven-week course in explosives incident countermeasures at the Jordan International Police Training Center.(U.S. Department of State photo)

(2) Assisted by his colleagues, an Iraqi law enforcement offi cer is fi tted with an explosives protection suit during ATA training at the Jordan International Police Training Center. (U.S. Department of State photo)

(3) Pakistani security offi cers undergo ATA range training at the Jordan International Police Training Center during a fi ve-week training course in crisis response teams. (U.S. Department of State photo)

1

2 3

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KENYAATA’S REGIONAL TRAINING CENTER IN KANYONYO, KENYA, BEGAN AS A GOVERNMENT OF KENYA-FINANCED HEADQUARTERS BUILDING EQUIPPED WITH DORMITORIES AND CLASSROOMS, A FIRING RANGE, A MODERN ARMORY, AND A CANVAS TENT MESS HALL. TO UPGRADE ITS CAPACITY TO SERVE AS A REGIONAL TRAINING HUB, ATA HAS PROVIDED THE CENTER WITH STORAGE SPACE, TRAINING EQUIPMENT, A TEMPORARY SHOOT HOUSE, AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, BASIC AND ADVANCED COURSES IN HARD AND SOFT COUNTERTERRORISM POLICING SKILLS.

Police offi cers from the Administration Police, Kenya Police Service, and the Kenya Wildlife Service have all trained at this facility. ATA also has used the site to train police offi cers from Djibouti, Tanzania, and Uganda. In addition, the facility hosted the 2015 East Africa Joint Operations (EAJO) capstone exercise.

ATA plans to add additional facilities, including classrooms, a permanent shoot

house, and expanded shooting ranges for the Kanyonyo training center.

As part of the U.S.-Kenyan partnership, the Kenyan government has established a satellite training fi eld north of the original compound to accommodate survival and advanced operations courses.

ATA training at the Kanyonyo training center has had a demonstrable effect on the professionalism,

collaboration, and success of law enforcement and security forces in the region. Security personnel who received ATA training at the Kanyonyo facility were credited with the successful rescue operation of a Kenyan school teacher who had been kidnapped near the Kenya-Somalia border by al-Shabaab terrorists on October 12, 2015. After tracking the terrorists for four

“The Administration Police

service commends highly the

ATA program and its team of

dedicated staff , who have over

the past decade worked with us

in Kenya, building Kenyan law

enforcement capability to combat

terrorism, and more specifi cally,

the AP Rural Border Patrol

Unit’s capacity.”

15

—Senior Assistant Inspector General

Fred Mwei

Administration Police Service

(Photo courtesy of Kenya

Administration Police Service)


days, Kenyan and Somali security forces attacked the gunmen and rescued the teacher in a coordinated operation approximately 10 miles inside Somalia.

In August 2016, Kenyan and Ugandan police offi cials who previously participated in ATA’s border security training at Kanyonyo helped to defuse an issue between the two countries during a dispute over policing of the Migingo Island in Lake Victoria. These police offi cers now share one outpost and provide a model of cooperation and peaceful coexistence to the villagers on both sides of the border.

Regional police offi cers have also applied their ATA tactical medical training to emergency incidents.

Graduates of one such tactical medical course responded to a plane crash near Kanyonyo, applying tourniquets and splints and advanced medical triage. They were credited with saving the lives of at least two of the crash victims.

ATA has trained approximately 1,000 new recruits and seasoned law enforcement offi cers in both basic and advanced courses at the training camp. With the expansion of Kanyoyo into a larger facility, ATA will be able to train more law enforcement personnel, thereby allowing more regional and international students to benefi t from antiterrorism training. As a result, regional and international partners will return to their respective nations better trained and equipped to combat national and regional terrorist threats.

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SENEGAL

These efforts culminated with U.S. and Senegalese offi cials signing a Letter of Agreement on November 8, 2016, permitting the U.S. government to construct a regional antiterrorism training center just outside of Dakar.

The new Senegal Counterterrorism Regional Training Center will be built on the grounds of the Senegalese Army’s current training facility and will be the fi rst regional center providing ATA training in West Africa.

This training facility will promote and integrate U.S. interagency efforts to advance U.S. strategic

counterterrorism objectives and will enhance the capacity, resilience, and collaboration of law enforcement agencies across West Africa to counter the threat posed by al-Qa’ida, ISIS, and other terrorist groups.

The ultimate goal of the Dakar training center is to duplicate the successes of the regional training programs in Jordan and Kenya with dedicated training facilities that will provide an effi cient platform for delivering operational, tactical, management, and leadership training to law enforcement professionals from across the region who are on the front lines of countering terrorism in West Africa.

THROUGHOUT 2016, ATA WORKED WITH ITS PARTNERS IN SENEGAL TO PLAN A NEW TRAINING FACILITY THAT WOULD PERMIT ATA TO PROVIDE TRAINING TO LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS FROM SENEGAL AND OTHER NATIONS THROUGHOUT THE REGION.

Left to right: An

aide-de-camp stands

watching as Deputy Chief of

Staff of the Armed Forces

of Senegal Adm. Cheikh

Bara Cissokho, U.S. Defense

Attaché Col. Scott Morgan,

and the U.S. Embassy

Regional Security Offi cer

meet November 8, 2016,

in Dakar to sign a letter of

agreement for creation

of ATA’s regional training

center. (U.S. Department

of State photo)

“Senegal is proud of the partnership with the ATA program

and all the recent training events centered on reinforcing

our border security. We were very pleased to see ATA bring

together elements of the armed forces and law enforcement

agencies in a common counterterrorism setting. As we

continue this valuable partnership, we look forward to

upcoming activities focused on border security and

reinforcing our training infrastructures. We hope ATA

will accompany us throughout the process and help

expand our training capabilities to regional partners.”

—Adm. Cheikh Bara CissokhoDeputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Senegal

17(Photo courtesy of Armed Forces of Senegal)


ATA-Trained SWAT Team Disrupts Suspected Bangladesh Terrorist CellOn July 26, 2016, members of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s ATA-trained Counterterrorism and Transnational Crime Unit launched a raid against suspected terrorists at an apartment building in the capital.

During the seven-hour operation, law enforcement offi cers kept the violent extremists under surveillance, evacuated nearby residents, and exchanged gunfi re with the suspects, who also threw explosive devices at police from inside the fi ve-story residential building. Nine suspects

were killed, and one was taken into police custody.

Police believe the suspects were members of the terrorist group Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh who may have been linked to a July 1, 2016, terrorist attack in which gunmen killed 20 hostages at a Dhaka bakery.

After police secured the site, ATA-trained bomb disposal technicians successfully recovered and rendered safe 13 hand grenades, fi ve kilograms of homemade gel explosives, more than 20 detonators, and additional bomb-making equipment.

Members of the

Dhaka Metropolitan

Police’s ATA-trained

Counterterrorism and

Transnational Crime

Unit leave the premises

of a fi ve-story building

in Dhaka where offi cers

killed nine terrorist

suspects and captured

another in a gun battle,

July 26, 2016. (AP/

WideWorld Photos)

18


A member of the

Dhaka Metropolitan

Police’s ATA-trained

Counterterrorism

and Transnational

Crime Unit leaves an

apartment building in

Dhaka where police

raided a hideout

of suspected terrorists,

July 26, 2016. (AP/

WideWorld Photos)

Police offi cers

depart the scene of

a raid on a terrorist

hideout inside an

apartment building

in Dhaka, Bangladesh,

July 26, 2016.

Police offi cers with

the ATA-trained

Counterterrorism and

Transnational Crime

Unit in Bangladesh’s

capital raided a

fi ve-story building

Tuesday and killed

nine suspected

terrorists, the country’s

police chief said. (AP/

WideWorld Photos)

19


25

ATA Cyber Training Program Helps Foreign Partners Peer into the Dark WebThe dark web—with its hidden or encrypted websites, networks, and digital platforms providing for anonymous communications, communities, and marketplaces—exists beyond the reach of standard Internet search engines and has become a virtual safe haven for terrorists.

Digital currency and peer-to-peer payment systems on the dark web enable terrorism fi nancing beyond the reach of typical fi nancial monitoring systems. Social media allows violent extremists to recruit and radicalize foreign terrorist fi ghters. Increasingly powerful mobile devices provide all-in-one platforms for terrorist communications, computing, and online activity. Taken together, modern law enforcement investigators face an evolving and complex technical challenge to identify, collect, and analyze digital evidence, and to prosecute cases involving terrorists’ use of technology.

The ATA cyber training program has recognized this growth in terrorists’ use of the dark web framework and has been

developing new courses to address these new threats. In addition to technical training, ATA provides mentoring and unit management support—including policy, budgeting, and in-service training assistance—to ensure that the integration of newly established cyber skills within partner law enforcement agencies leads to long-term sustained investigative capabilities.

The ATA cyber training program works with a variety of U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies to track and document new and evolving trends in terrorists’ use of technology and adapts the program components to meet new challenges.

Two course offerings focus on this area. ATA’s Investigative

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Shutterstock photo


Personnel from the Forensic

Science Laboratory of

Jordan’s Public Security

Directorate practice

capturing evidence from

social media for use in

cyber investigations during

an ATA course in Internet

investigations, September

27, 2016, Amman. (U.S.

Department of State photo)

Introduction to the Dark Web course is designed to enhance investigators’ understanding of how terrorists and terrorist organizations access and use the dark web. Through lectures and practical exercises, participants use hands-on technical approaches to learn how to access the dark web to further an investigation or to collect potentially actionable information.

Equally important is ATA’s Social Media Analysis course, which enables participants to identify, collect, and analyze evidence from popular social media sites. The course emphasizes both the content of users’ posts and their online network of friends. Online standard operating procedures, case management, and human rights principles are covered throughout the course. ATA also provides open source and commercially available software to students along with the corresponding

instruction. The curriculum is dynamic, based on each agency’s existing skills, equipment, and related caseload.

21


ATA Trains Law Enforcement and Military Partners at Flintlock 2016

For the fi rst time since its inception in 2000, the annual regional Flintlock exercise in West Africa—sponsored and led by the U.S. Department of Defense’s U.S. Special Operations Command-Africa (SOCAF) and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM)—integrated civilian law enforcement agencies into the exercise’s overall counterterrorism training objectives

Flintlock 16 was designed to enhance the cross-border cooperation of West African nations to strengthen capacity to secure their borders and respond to terrorist incidents. More than 1,700 military and law

enforcement personnel from 33 countries participated in the month-long exercise.

The U.S. Department of State developed a multi-pronged training initiative to integrate strategic, operational, and tactical law enforcement and civilian engagement components into Flintlock 2016. As part of this initiative, ATA identifi ed the need to include interagency stakeholders from Senegal and Mauritania, working to prevent and respond to the cross-border movement of terrorists.

The ATA law enforcement training component of Flintlock 2016 took place from January 11 through February 23, 2016,with training in Nouakchott, Mauritania; Richard Toll, Senegal; and Thies, Senegal. The instruction culminated with a capstone exercise that

Senegalese and

Mauritanian law

enforcement offi cers

conduct roadside patrols,

February 22, 2016, during

an ATA tactical border

patrol investigations

exercise in Thies, Senegal,

February 22, 2016. This

exercise was part of the

month-long Flintlock

2016 regional training.

(U.S. Department of

State photo)

A U.S. Department

of Defense poster

announces the Flintlock

2016 training exercise,

in which law enforcement

and military personnel

from 33 nations

participated. (U.S.

Department of

State photo)

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incorporated various aspects of each of the law enforcement training programs, including a human rights-focused community-engagement exercise conducted by the inter-governmental organization, International Offi ce for Migration, and “evidence collection” from post-blast and crime-scene investigation training provided by the FBI.

The integration of civilian law enforcement personnel into the Flintlock 2016 training exercise proved to be highly successful, demonstrating the effectiveness and

advantages of both civilian law enforcement and military cooperation in international efforts to combat, disrupt, and defeat terrorism.

In response to this overall Flintlock objective, ATA provided the Governments of Mauritania and Senegal a series of trainings focused on joint border security strategies, command and communication management, and tactical border patrol and riverine fi eld operations.

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(1) Senegalese

Gendarmerie personnel

collect “evidence,”

February 18, 2016,

from a vehicle bomb

blast during the FBI

post-blast investigation

exercise at Flintlock

2016, Thies, Senegal. This

evidence collection was

incorporated into ATA’s

capstone exercise for law

enforcement personnel

participating in the

Flintlock 2016 regional

exercise, in which 33

nations participated.

(U.S. Department

of State photo)

(2) An offi cer with

Mauritania’s Gendarmie

(left) receives

intelligence from the

fi eld while members of

Senegal’s National Police

record and analyze data

during ATA training at a

mock tactical operations

command center,

February 18, 2016, in

Thies, Senegal.

(U.S. Department

of State photo)

(3) Mauritanian

Gendarmerie offi cers

provide support for

Senegalese Gendarmerie

members boarding and

arresting suspects in a

suspicious boat during

ATA’s Tactical Boat

Operations exercise on

the Senegal River near

San Louis, Senegal.

The river forms part

of the border between

Mauritania and Senegal.

The arrest operation was

part of the month-long

regional Flintlock 2016

counterterrorism training

exercise for West African

partner nations.

(U.S. Department of

State photo)

(4) Senegalese

Gendarmerie offi cers

arrest a “suspect” aboard

a suspicious vessel

during an ATA exercise in

tactical boat operations

on the Senegal River

near San Louis, Senegal,

February 2016. This

mock arrest was part of

Flintlock 2016, an annual

counterterrorism training

program for U.S. partner

nations in West Africa.

(U.S. Department

of State photo)


Canine Validation CenterTo improve the explosives-detection capabilities of foreign law enforcement partners, ATA funds and arranges for the training of foreign partners’ bomb-sniffi ng canine teams

at the U.S. Department of State’s Canine Validation Center (CVC).

The CVC was launched in February 2015 to ensure that already trained bomb-detection canine teams provided by private security contractors at high-threat U.S. diplomatic posts abroad meet the standards required to ensure the security of those facilities.

Housed at a state-of-the-art facility in Virginia, the CVC’s staff includes a world-renowned forensic chemist whose laboratory has the capacity to analyze and replicate any type of known improvised explosive device (IED). This capability permits the CVC to demonstrate the latest IEDs being used by terrorists and to develop the most effective methods of training bomb-sniffi ng canines to detect them.

In March 2016, ATA and Diplomatic Security’s

Offi ce of Overseas Protective Operations, which oversees the CVC, signed a memorandum of agreement that permits ATA students and their canines to be trained by CVC personnel. The agreement provides these foreign law enforcement agencies with canine training, instructor training, veterinarian training, and mentoring, once the canine teams return to their home countries.

In July, law enforcement personnel from Jordan became the fi rst ATA-funded students to receive canine-handler and canine-instructor courses at the center. In addition, CVC personnel also conducted an in-country assessment of capabilities and needs of police in Nepal as a precursor for that country being considered for the ATA-funded canine training program.

The Jordanian police offi cers received three courses in bomb-detecting canines. In the fi rst course, CVC personnel trained 10 Jordanian canine teams. A second “train-the-trainer” course was subsequently provided to two of the 10 Jordanian canine trainers. These trainers then assisted CVC personnel in a third training course for 10 additional Jordanian canine handlers.

A member of the ATA-

funded, CVC-trained

Jordanian Royal Guard

canine unit inspects

a vehicle for possible

explosive materials,

October 25, 2016.

(U.S. Department

of State photo)

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Twenty canines funded by ATA were provided to the Jordanian canine handlers and trainers as part of the 2016 courses. Because canine training also needs to occur in the environment where the canine will be working, after the completion of these courses, CVC instructors accompanied the canine teams back to Jordan to conduct in-country training in areas where the canines would be operating. The CVC instructors helped ensures that the dogs were acclimated to their new environment.

(Top) A member of the

Canine Validation Center training

staff conducts a luggage search

with explosives-detecting canine

Scott, November 3, 2016. ATA

planned to assign the trained

dog to a member of the Nepalese

Police explosives-detection

canine unit. (U.S. Department

of State photo)

(Bottom) A member of the

Canine Validation Center

training staff conducts initial

explosives-detection training,

November 10, 2016, with

bomb-sniffi ng canine Cliff.

(U.S. Department of State photo)

CVC and ATA staffs are working to improve the canine program and plan to place ATA mentors in multiple participating nations. These ATA personnel, who understand the training methodologies and best practices in current use at the CVC, will be able to address training issues that arise in-country and communicate directly with CVC staff regarding emerging trends. Through this on-site support, ATA will maintain the integrity of the canine program by ensuring that partner nations continue receiving the correct type of training.


The National Training Center in Niamey, Niger

In July 2014, ATA, using funding from the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership, began construction of the Niger National Training Center in Niamey. The new training facility was completed in November 2016

and has the capacity for hosting both soft-skills and hard-skills training activities.

The new training center consists of two classrooms, a below-ground live-fi ring range, a tactical shoot house, washroom facilities, a multi-purpose room that also serves as a dining facility, and an above-ground water tower.

In addition to the facility structures, the center has an upgraded electrical system, perimeter lighting and fencing, storage for weapons and other training gear, generators, and a guard booth with access control. The project also overhauled the water and electrical infrastructure serving the complex.

In 2016, ATA trained more than 250 members of Niger’s National Police, Immigration, Customs, and Gendarmerie at the new facility in crisis

response, rural border patrol operations, and tactical movement and marksmanship.

The ATA crisis response course at the facility taught Nigerien tactical offi cers and supervisors the basic skills needed to launch tactical responses to terrorist activities. The course covered improvised explosive devices and booby traps; weapon retention drills, defensive tactics and subject control techniques, tactical communications, close quarters battle, diversionary tactics, incident management, tactical planning, small-unit tactics, fi rearms handling, emergency medical care, and several other topics.

ATA’s course in border patrol operations enabled participants to detect, identify, classify, respond to, and resolve border intrusions in rural environments. The training included instruction on small-unit tactics, fi rearms handling, tracking, land navigation, emergency medical care, border security concepts, operational planning, and fundamentals of marksmanship and shooting techniques in low-light conditions. This training culminated in a capstone exercise that

ATA instructors (left

and center foreground)

oversee training at the

Niger National Training

Center’s small-arms

range for students

from Niger’s National

Guard, National Police

Counter Terrorism Unit,

and National Police

Intervention Group,

August 31, 2016. (Photo

courtesy of Olgoonik

Management Service)

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(Top) Members of the

Niger National Police

and National Guard,

accompanied by an

ATA instructor (rear

center in tan hat),

practice breaching and

tactical-unit movement

in the Niger National

Training Center

shoot house, Niamey,

September 15, 2016.

(Photo courtesy

of Olgoonik

Management Service)

(Bottom) Offi cers from

Niger’s National Guard

(in tan camoufl age

uniforms) and

National Police (in

dark green uniforms)

attend a ceremony,

September 23, 2016,

at the Niger Tactical

Training Center in

Niamey, marking their

completion of an

ATA crisis-response

team course. (Photo

courtesy of Olgoonik

Management Service)

incorporated all of the knowledge and skills acquired in the course.

The training center will serve as a focal point for additional regional ATA tactical training to law enforcement personnel from Niger and other partner nations in the Lake Chad region and the Sahel.


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ATA Tactical Medicine Training and Equipment Save LivesOn the evening of April 30, 2016, Abdulkadir Hassan, a constable with the Kenya Administrative Police Rural Border Patrol, used his ATA training and equipment to render medical aid to his fellow police offi cers following a serious traffi c accident.

A recent graduate of an ATA tactical medicine course, Hassan was traveling in a truck to Kitengela, Kenya, to conduct nighttime patrol operations with 18 other offi cers. About 16 miles from their destination, just outside of the town of Isinya, the driver lost control of the vehicle due to poor weather and driving conditions. The truck collided with a semi-trailer truck and rolled over upon impact, throwing most of the offi cers from the police vehicle.

Hassan was knocked temporarily unconscious

by the collision, but quickly regained consciousness and jumped from the vehicle to discover his fellow offi cers lying on the road begging for assistance.

Hassan set to work tending to the injured with his medical kit that had been issued to him by ATA instructors during an ATA tactical medicine course in Manyani, Kenya.

Hassan’s attention focused on an offi cer who was bleeding so badly that he could not differentiate between the victim’s nose and eyes. Hassan applied two pressure bundles on the wound, tied it with a bandage to control the bleeding, and reassured the offi cer that he would recover.

Another offi cer whom Hassan treated on the scene had a piece of skull hanging by the scalp, exposing the victim’s

Offi cers with the

Kenya National

Police Service’s Crisis

Response Team assist

role-playing “victims”

and assemble at a

casualty-collection

point during a

February 2016 ATA

tactical medicine

course in Nairobi.

(U.S. Department

of State photo)

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(1) A member of the Kenya

National Police Service’s

Crisis Response Team

examines a fallen comrade

during role play at an ATA

tactical medical course in

Nairobi, February 2016. (U.S.


(2) Law enforcement

offi cers from the Kenya

National Police Service’s

Crisis Response Team tend

to a “victim” during an ATA

tactical medical course in

Nairobi, February 2016. (U.S.


(3) Law enforcement offi cers

from the Kenya National

Police Service’s Crisis

Response Team practice

victim transport during a

February 2016 ATA tactical

medicine course in Nairobi.

(U.S. Department of

State photo)

brain. Hassan put the skull fragment back in place and secured it competently enough that doctors at a nearby hospital did little more than stitch the scalp back together.

Hassan then fl agged down motorists and gave them instructions to transport his injured colleagues to the nearest hospital. He later said that within 20 minutes all of the injured had been rushed to hospitals in Kitengela and Kajiando.

All of the injured survived. Hassan credits his ATA training and the individual fi rst aid kit for saving the lives of his fellow offi cers.

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Global Security Contingency Fund: Helping Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria Counter Boko HaramThe Global Security Contingency Fund (GSCF), jointly administered and funded by the U.S. Department of State and U.S Department of Defense (DoD), provides security, counterterrorism, and rule-of-law training to partner nations.

On July 10, 2014, the U.S. Department of State, with U.S. Department of Defense concurrence, approved a detailed $40 million train-and-equip program using the GSCF authority for three years to assist the governments of Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria. Through the GSCF, ATA has provided technical expertise, training, and equipment to those Lake Chad Basin countries to develop border security and counterterrorism strategies to counter the threats posed by the terrorist group Boko Haram.

While ATA’s traditional funding does not permit it to train military offi cers, the GSCF program authorizes ATA to cross-train military, law enforcement, and customs offi cers to further promote interoperability. ATA’s training through the GSCF

marked the fi rst time many of these nations’ military and law enforcement offi cers had undertaken training together.

In Fiscal Year 2016, ATA implemented a multi-phase training program for each Lake Chad Basin country to increase its capacity to conduct border reconnaissance and patrols. The fi rst phase consisted of a six-week course in rural border-patrol operations designed to enable participants to detect, identify, classify, respond to, and resolve border intrusions in rural environments. Training was focused on small-unit tactics, fi rearms handling, tracking, land navigation, emergency medical care, border security concepts, and operational planning. Community engagement, public safety, and human rights were emphasized throughout the training.

At the conclusion of the course, a fi ve-day train-the-trainer session immediately followed in which the top 12 students from the fi rst course learned how to teach segments of the course—both in the classroom and in the fi eld. This was

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A mixed class of

students from Niger’s

law enforcement

agencies and armed

forces practice border-

patrol techniques

during an ATA

rural border patrol

operations course in

Niamey, Niger. (U.S.

Department of

State photo)

A mixed class of

students from Niger’s

National Police,

Gendarmerie, Customs,

National Guard,

and Armed Forces

conduct movement

and weapons discipline

drills during ATA

training at the Niger

Tactical Training

Center in Niamey,

Niger, September 2016.

(U.S. Department

of State photo)

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A mixed team

of offi cers from

Cameroon’s National

Police, Rapid

Intervention Battalion

(BIR), Gendarmerie,

and Customs Offi cers

conduct land-

navigation techniques

during an ATA rural

border security patrol

training, winter 2016.

(U.S. Department of

State photo)

followed by a 10-day program in which ATA mentors helped the 12 new instructors in each nation further develop their training skills.

Following the mentorships, the newly developed trainers in each nation delivered fi ve weeks of instruction, under the watchful eye of an ATA mentor, to 24 additional students in topics that included risk analysis, use of force, communications, interviewing techniques, evidence procedures, emergency medical care, rural reconnaissance, defensive tactics, tracking operations, tactical interdictions, and high-risk raids.

ATA initiated a counter-Boko Haram train-and-equip program May 5, 2015, with a three-day workshop in Yaoundé, Cameroon, on how to establish a multinational regional border patrol strategy. The workshop brought together U.S. subject matter experts and senior military, law enforcement, and custom offi cials from each of the four Lake Chad partner nations.

During the multilateral workshop, senior leaders from Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria developed a unifi ed regional border security strategy to enhance joint planning and coordination

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capabilities to counter the regional Boko Haram threat.

Following the multilateral workshop, ATA then conducted individual training in each Lake Chad Basin country, using the regional strategy as a framework to help each partner nation develop its own national border security strategy and implementation plan. In this way, each nation developed a plan to implement a national border security strategy in support of the region’s newly established multilateral border security efforts against Boko Haram.

The ATA-facilitated regional and national border security strategies were employed by senior leadership within each country to enhance and develop respective border and national security plans and to facilitate regional cooperation to counter Boko Haram.


United States Department of State

Bureau of Diplomatic Security

Washington, D.C. 20522-2008

Revised September 2017

www.diplomaticsecurity.state.gov

@StateDeptDSS

For more information on the Antiterrorism Assistance Program, please visit:www.state.gov/m/ds/terrorism/c8583.htm

To learn more about this and other counterterrorism initiatives, please visit:www.state.gov/j/ct/index.htm

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