China started the second phase of its joint anti-terror dill with its western neighbor Kazakhstan at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday in Yining, western China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The "Tianshan-I (2006)" exercise in Yining will last till Saturday noon, the Chinese police authority announced, with Chinese troops mainly composed of border police and anti-terror special force in Xinjiang.

Some 700 police force are deployed on the game equipped with advanced weapons including armed helicopters and armored anti-riot vehicles, the police said.

The Yining game consists of five parts, simulating a battle in which Chinese guards will gradually force the terrorists into a narrow valley and cliff caves, the source said.

Around 100 observers from member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) which includes China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, are in Yining to evaluate the drill.

The drill is the first ever joint anti-terrorism exercise between the two countries' law enforcement bodies and special forces within the framework of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

China and Kazakhstan on Thursday finished the first phase of the drill in Kazakhstan's eastern Almaty region.

China's police authority said the exercise was held to demonstrate SCO's latest progress in combating terrorists in the region, namely the "three evil forces" of terrorists, splittists and extremists.

"The exercise will help establish SCO's active role in maintaining regional security and stability," said Men Hongwei, China's vice minister of public security and commander of the Chinese troops for the drill.

Men said the police force will also explore new patterns of security cooperation through the exercise, noting that both traditional combating forces like cavalry and the modern ones are participating in the drill.

Source: Xinhua