Interior Ministry, National Guard hold counter-terrorism drill

The Interior Ministry held a security exercise called ‘Bahrain Security 1’ on Monday in association with the joint commands of the Interior Ministry and the National Guard. The exercise aimed to reinforce cooperation and coordination between the Interior Ministry and the National Guard in the spheres of security and training for homeland security and counter-terrorism planning and operations.

It also highlighted the role of the commands and control bodies and tested the efficiency of communication networks between the two authorities. The aim also was to train to carry out joint operations and improve the skills of taking over duties during security operations.

The exercise included training the Coast Guard and the Civil Defence to provide back-ups during operations and help restore normalcy. It also aimed to put in place emergency plans for joint operations and unify concepts, procedures and exchange of expertise.

The exercise was carried out in three phases that included getting ready and making preparations, providing briefs on plans, opening operation rooms, drafting reports and exchanging information, and evaluating the security authorities’ preparedness to achieve a comprehensive integration to deal with emergencies efficiently.

Chief of Public Security and Director of the exercise Major-General Tariq Al Hassan thanked His Highness the President of the National Guard and His Excellency the Interior Minister for their keenness to reinforce joint operations and their directives for the success of the exercise.

He also thanked the Director of Staff of the National Guard for his interest, support and follow up of the exercise and all those who had contributed in planning and implementing the exercise. While inspecting the joint command centre the Chief appreciated the advanced level of coordination between the Interior Ministry and the National Guard and attributed the success of the exercise to cooperation, coordination and team spirit. He said that such an approach helped reinforce training to face risks.

He also said the exercise included lessons to improve efficiency by determining the strong points and reinforcing them and also the areas that needed improvement. He said the exercise would be followed by bigger ones to improve the preparedness of the sectors concerned to enhance their capability for a fast response to accidents to limit their impact. The Chief said the exercise was designed to test the approved plans and coordination in the field to discover the opportunities to improve skills and upgrade equipment and systems to deal with dangerous accidents. (MOI)

Source: Fana News