Aircraft Hijacking and Terrorist Infiltration Exercise at Sarajevo Airport

(Patria) - On Wednesday, September 2, in the afternoon hours, as part of the "Quick Response 2020" exercise, a methodological demonstration exercise was conducted at Sarajevo International Airport, during which an aircraft hijacking and a terrorist attack at Sarajevo International Airport were simulated. This is the fourth consecutive year that Sarajevo International Airport is participating in the exercise, EUFOR announced.

Acting Airport Director, Alan Bajić, said that aircraft hijacking is one of the most serious acts of terrorism and one of the most complex crisis situations, adding: "Airport staff and other participants have made great efforts to ensure the exercise was conducted properly, and I want to thank all participants. Although we hope we will never find ourselves in such a situation in reality, it is good to know that we have well-trained staff and practiced procedures."

After the commercial flights for the day were completed, members of the EUFOR Multinational Battalion and BiH law enforcement agencies were quickly deployed to the airport, where they established checkpoints, secured key infrastructure, and dealt with a situation involving an aircraft hijacking and a report of an explosive device.

Within the exercise, the State Crisis Team issued approval to police agencies to act and resolve the hostage crisis. The meeting was attended by the Minister of Security of BiH Selmo Cikotić, the Minister of Defense of BiH Sifet Podžić, the Minister of Transport and Communications of BiH Vojin Mitrović, the Commander of EUFOR Major General Reinhard Trischak, as well as leaders from intelligence services, law enforcement agencies, the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, and coordination bodies.

On behalf of Sarajevo International Airport, the State Crisis Team meeting was attended by Acting Airport Director Alan Bajić, Acting Executive Director for Traffic and Services Elvedin Begić, Acting Executive Director for Development Samra Pehilj, and Director of the Security Sector Senad Malić.

Minister Cikotić stated: "Such joint exercises with very realistic scenarios are a good opportunity to test the coordination and action systems of responsible institutions and ministries, police agencies, emergency services, and the services of Sarajevo International Airport. I am pleased to say that all participants in today's exercise demonstrated a high level of readiness, training, and coordinated action, sending a strong message to those who might consider committing a terrorist act, as well as to passengers, as it is an additional guarantee of their safety."

EUFOR Commander Major General Reinhard Trischak was satisfied with the efficient action according to the given scenarios: "The cooperation between EUFOR, law enforcement agencies, and airport services was excellent. Working side-by-side with our colleagues from BiH, we have demonstrated the ability to quickly secure and protect Sarajevo Airport, which is a critically important infrastructure facility for maintaining a safe and stable environment in BiH."

The scenario practiced at Sarajevo Airport is just one of the challenges that EUFOR soldiers face as part of the "Quick Response 2020" exercise. The day before, as part of the exercise, EUFOR established security at Tuzla International Airport and deployed an explosive ordnance disposal team, which removed suspicious luggage.

The "Quick Response" exercise is an annual peacekeeping operations exercise that annually tests crisis response plans and EUFOR's mechanisms for rapid activation and integration of high-readiness forces located outside the country with troops already deployed in BiH, all for the purpose of continuous progress, security, and stability in BiH, EUFOR announced.