WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. State Department said on Thursday that the United States and Germany have launched an initiative in Berlin to counter the Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) threats.

According to a statement, the event, held earlier on Thursday "under the auspices of the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF)," aims to develop a set of non-binding good practices to assist countries in developing or expanding national action plans to identify, prioritize, and implement policies and measures to counter terrorists' use of UAS.

Participants from national and local governments and international organizations at the launch event exchanged assessments of the threat, national policies, and legislative responses towards terrorist use of UAS, and established technologies to counter UAS.

The two nations will also hold the first regional workshop on the initiative on Friday, which will focus on countering the UAS threat in Europe.

According to the State Department, the Islamic State and other violent groups are using the UAS technology to conduct reconnaissance, drop explosives and spread propaganda.

"Rapidly improving technology and easier access increase the possibility of terrorists using UAS against civilian targets," the State Department said. "As these attacks are increasing in complexity and frequency, multilateral cooperation is needed to develop a substantive guide for governments to counter terrorist use of UAS."

Washington said that the initiative will convene three additional regional workshops throughout 2019 in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, so as to inform the development of a good practices document for countering terrorist UAS threats, which will be put forward for endorsement at the GCTF Ministerial next year.