7,000 troops take part in SCO exercise

By Wang Xu (chinadaily.com.cn)

Updated: 2014-08-19

Russian soldiers are welcomed as they arrive at the train station of the Zhurihe training base, north China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Aug 16, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]

The arrival of a Tupelov Tu-134 aircraft carrying 39 military officers from Kazakhstan on Sunday brought to more than 7,000 the number of troops from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization gathered for the "Peace Mission-2014" joint anti-terrorist military exercise in Zhurihe, the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

"Peace Mission-2014", the fifth such exercise under the SCO framework, began on Sunday and will end on Friday. This year's drill involves 2,200 foreign personnel including infantry, aviation and airborne troops and special forces, as well as weaponry such as fighters, transports, helicopters and tanks transported here from Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

A Russian general said the anti-terrorism drill is very important for global cooperation, and he hopes China, Russia and the other countries in the SCO can work together to sharpen their anti-terrorism capabilities.

The SCO, which includes China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, was founded in Shanghai in 2001, with Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan as observers, and Belarus, Turkey and Sri Lanka as dialogue partners.