SCO drill to hone anti-terror capabilities: Russian general

BEIJING - The "Peace Mission-2014," a multinational drill under the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) framework scheduled for the end of August, will serve to better prepare militaries for anti-terrorism operations, a Russian general said here on Saturday.

Russia hopes its military officers can gain experience in anti-terror missions through the six-day joint drill, which will involve over 7,000 personnel from China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, said Major General Mikhail Yakovlevich Nosulev.

He said the SCO anti-terrorism drill was of great importance to global cooperation, adding that he hopes Russian and Chinese troops can train together and sharpen their anti-terror capabilities through collaboration.

The "Peace Mission-2014" drill will take place Aug 24-29 at the Zhurihe training base in China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region in accordance with the 2014-2015 defense ministry cooperation plan among SCO members.

Russia will send a total of 900 troops to participate in the drill in addition to 12 aircraft, including SU-25 jets and MI-8MT helicopters.

Last year, only China and Russia participated in the exercises, which were held in Chelyabinsk in Russia's Ural mountain region from July 27 to Aug 15, 2013.

Founded in Shanghai in 2001, the SCO includes China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan are observers. Belarus, Turkey and Sri Lanka are dialogue partners.