Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries wound
up their largest-ever joint anti-terror military drill on Friday in
the presence of their heads of state.
President Hu Jintao flew to Chelyabinsk, Russia, on
Thursday after attending the SCO summit in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz
capital, to observe the final phase of the 9-day exercise held in
Russia's Urals Mountains with his counterparts from Russia,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The exercise began at 1 PM at a training ground of the Russian
Army's 34th Motorized Rifle Division near Chebarkul, a town about
80 km west of Chelyabinsk, in Russia's Volga-Urals Military
District, with three red flares blasting in the clear sky.
The flares were immediately followed by a burst of rifle fire
and booming artillery in a "terrorist-held town" in which hundreds
of residents were hostages. Under the scenario of the SCO drill,
the militaries of the six nations held consultations and then
jointly drew up plans to combat the terrorists and launch a rescue
operation.
Aircraft and helicopters roared in the sky, while armored
vehicles rumbled through the town. Parachutes and airborne units
were airlifted to perform airborne assaults. Special forces were
dropped from the armed helicopters to rescue the hostages.
What made the exercise look more like an actual battle was that
the aircraft and armored vehicles used live ammunition. Only the
task of destroying the "terrorists" was fulfilled with blanks.
The exercise ended at 3 PM after the terrorists were "killed"
and the rescue of the hostages was signaled with the firing of
three green flares into the sky.
The leaders' presence at the joint drill, the first time in the
history of the organization, demonstrates their determination to
combat the three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism that
threaten peace and stability in the region, analysts say.
Hu highlighted the SCO anti-terror exercises at the
just-concluded Bishkek summit, saying they will improve the
"efficiency of SCO member states in the fight against
terrorism."
Russian President Vladimir Putin has deemed it necessary to
create a "counter-terrorism security belt" within the framework of
the SCO. He told the SCO summit that a common counter-terrorism
strategy was one of the key priorities for the international
organization.
More than 4,000 troops, including 1,600 from China, took part in
the drill, which also involved around 500 combat vehicles and 80
aircraft from Russia and China, such as Ilyushin Il-76 transport
planes, Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot ground-attack jets, JH-7-A
fighter-bombers, JG-9-W and Mi-17 Hip helicopters.
"We carried out our every mission in the drill," General
Alexander Belousov, Russian first deputy minister of defense, told
reporters after the exercise. "We will announce the end of the
joint exercise when the troops and equipment participating in the
exercise all go back to their countries."
Ahead of the maneuvers, the chiefs of the general staffs of the
SCO member countries held military-political consultations in
Urumqi, capital of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, last
Thursday.
The SCO was founded in 2001.
The Chinese military began taking part in multilateral exercises
in 2002 to broaden its security cooperation with other
countries.
Since then, the Chinese armed forces have taken part in 17 such
drills with Pakistan, India, France, the UK, Australia, Thailand,
and the US, as well as the other five SCO member countries.
(China Daily August 18, 2007)
