Bangladesh joins Qatar’s natural disaster response drills with Tunisia, Italy

Qatar, believed to be the safest country in terms of natural disaster, has carried out a military search and rescue exercise after a simulated calamity.

Bangladesh, which is one of the most vulnerable countries to natural disaster, joined the multinational exercise on Monday alongside Tunisia and Italy.

A post-cyclone monstrous scene has been created at the Al Wakra, close to Doha, with the sea shore littered with debris, cars, and houses blown away by the cyclone.

Bangladesh Army’s medical and engineering teams have been deployed for the search and rescue of the victims as part of the ongoing multinational exercise ‘Ferocious Falcon’ that entered its final drills phase on Monday.

They found five ‘dead’ and many more supposed injured.

“It’s been a great experience for us,” Lieutenant Colonel AKM Mashiul Munir, the chief of the medical team, told bdnews24.com from the spot.

It was like a real post-cyclone response. Helicopters hovered over the entire area, and police cordoned off the zone before joint military team of Bangladesh, Italy and Tunisia began their work.

Drone-guided camera and dog squad helped Bangladesh Army engineering team find out victims while medical team worked with the state-of-the-art technologies and equipment in rescuing the ‘victims’.

The tiny nation in the Persian Gulf is least vulnerable to natural disaster worldwide, according to a UN report.

It appears to enjoy the status largely because of its strategic location away from the disaster risk hotspots including Oceania in Southeast Asia. Even then the Peninsula is preparing to face the worst.

“Yes we have the lowest risk. But who can predict natural disaster particularly when we are talking about climate change,” Mohammed Saaed, Scene Commander of Qatar Red Crescent that also joined the exercise told bdnews24.com at the scene.

He said simply having plans was not enough for disaster response. “Those need to be practiced. This is part of our practice,” he said.

“We have to prepare ourselves so that we can respond effectively.”

Bangladesh armed forces have been taking part in all disaster management activities in the country. But in recent years they rendered disaster response assistance to Japan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, China, Pakistan, Myanmar, India, Maldives, Haiti and Nepal.

“We have the capabilities that we showed before. Today we have also demonstrated them. Our team can work anywhere in the world,” Lieutenant Colonel Munir said.

Qatar used sophisticated technology like drones and state-of-the-art medical system for the whole process.

Its ambulances have been equipped even with the cardiac care facilities like CCU.

“They are highly equipped and we saw how they use drones in finding the victims. It’s a new aspect for us,” Major Mohammad Imruzzaman Saaif, who coordinated the engineering team on the ground, told bdnews24.com.

“It’s a multinational environment, and working in this environment is a good learning process,” he said.

The exercise began on May 11 with 27 countries, including the US, UK, Germany, and France as observers.

Bangladesh has sent a 350-strong delegation including 236 personnel from Navy that joined the exercise with its largest ship BNS Somudra Joy.

The three-day field training exercise from May 18 to May 20 will cover crisis management aspects in terrorist incidents, hijackings, natural disasters, threat, and damage to vital installations, and services.

Bangladesh military’s special commando unit has joined the exercise for mock terrorist attacks in a sports facility.

It will also take part in the handling of a ‘hijacked’ civilian aircraft on Tuesday.

This exercise is a way of evaluating capabilities of Qatar’s own civil bodies to work with its military in any crisis situation like terrorist attacks as Doha is preparing to host 2022 FIFA World Cup.

For Bangladesh military, globally acclaimed as UN peacekeepers, the exercise is an opportunity to showcase its capabilities.

“We’re demonstrating our skills and capabilities with this exercise before our friendly countries,” Brigadier General Abdullah Al Yusuf, Bangladesh team leader in Doha, had earlier told bdnews24.com.

“If they face any crisis, they will easily recall what Bangladesh can offer them.”

The Red Crescent Commander Saaed thanked Bangladesh for the active participation during Monday’s drills.

“They did very well,” he told bdnews24.com.

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