A senior official of the United States Central Command, CENTCOM, has praised the UAE Armed Forces skills in countering Improvised Explosives Devices, IEDs, in Yemen, saying that this expertise will be further honed through mutual collaboration.

“We are here to discuss cooperation with our UAE counterparts to develop their skills in this particular area,” Lt. Colonel Aaron Workman, Centre Policy and Planning IED, at the CENTCOM told the Emirates News Agency, WAM, on the sidelines of the first “Lessons Learned Countering Improvised Explosives Devices, C-IED” conference hosted by the UAE in Abu Dhabi on 27-28 March 2018.

“This cooperation will be in the form of training, exchange of expertise and also equipment, "all options are on the table,” he added.

Commenting on the possibility of forming legislation to ban IEDs, Colonel Workman said that no law will be effective to control these booby-traps due to the reason that these devices are acquired by "non-institutional organizations, that do not abide by any law." He went on to say that nations have to cooperate with each other to stop the transfer of materials used in making these improvised devices.

The US official also underlined the need to train and teach individuals about IEDs, due to the changing nature of these devices.

The two-day conference is organized by the UAE Ministry of Defence, MoD, in cooperation with the Joint IED Defeat Organization, JIDO, USA, and is aimed at gathering nations, agencies and organization to discuss the latest IED threats, lessons learned, and the best methods and technologies and techniques to defeat these devices.