Kingston, March 3 (IANS) Colombia has joined India, US and a number of other countries in providing security for the ICC World Cup in the West Indies starting this month.
The South American country is sending a 14-member team from its army and navy to assist in counter-terrorism activities, according to a press release issued out of the Colombian embassy in the Jamaican capital.
The Colombian team would support the security force put in place across the nine countries in the Caribbean where the World Cup would be held, the release stated, adding that it would also assist with canine-explosive detection and events protection.
The team will comprise four officers, five corporals, two supervisors, one soldier and two scuba divers.
The Colombia Air Force will also provide airlift facilities for the event, the release stated. This comes after an agreement signed between the Colombia's Ministry of National Defence and Trinidad & Tobago's National Security Ministry in March last year.
The World Cup is being seen as a potential target for terrorists, and India, England, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka are the key security risks.
A 16-member team from India's elite National Security Guards (NSG) will be flying in next week to carry out anti-sabotage checks at all cricketing venues and will stay here in the West Indies right through the course of the World Cup.
NSG's Col. Harjeet S. Pathania was already in Port of Spain on a reconnaissance mission tying up details with the Caricom Operational Planning and Co-ordination Staff (COPACS) in providing security at venues for the Indian cricket team.
Earlier, the US, with the World Cup happening on its backyard, had pumped in $3 million for training, largely of security personnel.
The money was used in providing 80 training classes on port security, airport security, bomb detection, healthcare sector management, resource management, traffic management, VIP protection and disaster management.
The US Department of Homeland Security has also facilitated the installation of the Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS) for the purposes of ensuring greater security during the World Cup.
Australia, Canada, China, France, South Africa and Britain are also helping the West Indies in successfully holding the world of sport's third biggest event after the Olympics and the football World Cup.