Some 6,500 troops will take part in large-scale counterterrorism exercises, codenamed "Peace Mission 2007" from August 9 to 17.
The Peace Mission 2007 exercise, held by members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will involve 500 combat vehicles from Russia and China, about 2,000 Russian and 1,600 Chinese personnel, two paratrooper companies (around 100 men each) from Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, and a platoon from Kyrgyzstan.
The exercise will involve practically all SCO members for the first time in its history. Established in 2001 as a non-military alliance, the SCO initially set dealing with extremism and other security threats in Central Asia as its goal, but has since expanded its scope to include cooperation in disaster relief and trade.
Participating units will start arriving in Russia July 27.
The group comprises Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The organization also lists Iran, Pakistan, India and Mongolia as observers.
The upcoming exercises were not aimed at third countries and were mainly intended to practice troops interoperability in counterterrorism operations.
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