The OPCW’s third international Assistance and Protection Exercise (ASSISTEX 3), hosted by the Government of Tunisia, got underway Monday with the arrival of more than 400 specialists from 11 States Parties, the Technical Secretariat and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (UN-OCHA) at a sprawling sports complex on the outskirts of Tunis where the exercise will take place.
The scenario for the exercise will be a terrorist attack with chemical weapons against civilians during a sports event, combined with an investigation of alleged use (IAU). A State Party has requested assistance and protection from the OPCW against the threat of use of chemical weapons under Article X of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
On Monday and Tuesday, specialized international teams arrive and deploy on the scene during the “threat phase”, followed by two days of live exercise in response to an attack and investigation of alleged use on Wednesday and Thursday. The event will end on Friday with a VIP programme and closing ceremony.
ASSISTEX 3 brings together national teams from the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, India, Italy, Spain, South Africa, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey and the United Kingdom, together with a regional team from the Caribbean and three sub-regional teams from North, West and East Africa. The combined international force includes specialists in all aspects of response and alleged use: reconnaissance, detection, decontamination, evacuation, medical support, sampling and analysis, search and rescue, and bomb disposal units.
The joint operation is coordinated by a Local Emergency Management Authority (LEMA) staffed by Tunisian officials and an On-Site Operations Coordination Centre (OSOCC) joining the OPCW and UN-OCHA.
During the first day of the threat phase on Monday, teams deployed and tested their equipment, including a field hospital and mobile laboratory. Command units were established to coordinate tasking; participants visited the various sites on location where the scenario will unfold to review the “injects”, and local role players received instruction for the simulation activities.
The exercise will be filmed by teams from Tunisian Television and the Vigili Fuoco (Fire Department) of Italy for training and promotional purposes. A large contingent of Tunisian and international journalists is expected for a special media programme on Thursday.