SCO holds first joint anti-terrorism drill in China featuring all member states

Authorities from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member states conduct Anti-terrorism Interaction-2024 joint exercise in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in July 2024. (Photo: Screenshot from China Central Television.)

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) recently held its first joint anti-terrorism drill in China featuring all member states, with experts saying on Tuesday that the large-scale exercise showed the SCO's determination and capabilities in tackling resurging threats from terrorism.

Relevant authorities from SCO member states recently conducted the Anti-terrorism Interaction-2024 joint exercise in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Tuesday.

It marked the first time the relevant authorities from all SCO member states have participated in a joint anti-terrorism drill featuring live forces, CCTV said.

With Belarus becoming the 10th official member state earlier this month, the SCO has been joined by China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Targeting signs of terrorist organizations conducting sabotage activities, the exercise set training courses including a special operation on eliminating terrorist groups, CCTV reported.

Photos released with the report show that soldiers and police officers fully armed with assault rifles, pistols, and riot shields launching an assault, some via armored and all-terrain vehicles and some via helicopter, with aerial drones and robot dogs also deployed in the exercise.

The SCO had previously held several anti-terrorism exercises, but they were bilateral or multilateral and did not feature all member states, Li Wei, a research fellow and security expert from the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The latest drill reflected that all SCO member states share a common understanding of the threats posed by terrorism, Li said.

Countries in Central, South, and West Asia are all facing terrorist threats from various sources, and Russia just suffered from a concert hall terrorist attack in Moscow in March, Li said, noting that China also faces potential terrorist threats, and a resurgence of terrorist activities have been observed also in other parts of the world such as Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, and Americas.

Since terrorist threats often spill over to other countries and flow around the globe, the latest large-scale SCO exercise was held under the current situation to enhance the member states' capabilities and interoperability in joint anti-terrorism operations, analysts said.

Li Yawei contributed to this story