Consruction work on K9 headquarters kicked off in Kabul

KABUL (Pajhwok): The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Country Office for Afghanistan and the Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan (CNPA) held a groundbreaking ceremony  to mark the start of construction of the Counter Narcotics Canine (K9) Center at CNPA Headquarters in Kabul, according to a statement on Thursday.

The project is a povitol element in the creation of a dedicated counter narcotics canine capacity within the country. It has been made possible through financial and technical assistance received from the Governments of Japan and  the Russian Federation, says the statement.

The ceremony was attended by General Mohammad Hashim Urtaq, Deputy Minister Counter Narcotics, Ministry of Interior,  Mitsuji Suzuka, Ambassador of Japan in Afghanistan, H.E. Dmitriy A. Zhirnov, Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Afghanistan, and Mark Colhoun, UNODC Representative in Afghanistan.

During the ceremony Mr. Colhoun noted that “Given the fact, that the majority of seizures made by Afghan law enforcement agencies are intelligence based and only 15 percent of the drugs seized are as a result of interventions using detection equipment and tools, the introduction of specialized working dogs will greatly enhance the interdiction efforts of the Government of Afghanistan”.

UNODC is implementing the Counter Narcotics Canine (K9) Unit, including construction of the Canine (K9) Center with funding from the people of Japan and with technical support from Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.

Pr/nh