DONGUZ TRAINING GROUND /Orenburg Region/, September 24. /TASS/. The focus of the Peace Mission 2021 counter-terror drills of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) can be explained by threats emanating from Afghanistan and the security bloc’s forces are ready to ward them off, Commander of Russia’s Central Military District Colonel General Alexander Lapin said on Friday.
The Central Military District’s commander oversaw the SCO’s Peace Mission 2021 counter-terror drills that took place at the Donguz proving ground in the Orenburg Region in the Urals.
"The focus was shaped by the escalation of tension in the Central Asian region caused by terrorist threats primarily emanating from Afghanistan," the commander stressed.
"The effective system of the coalition forces’ command and control that was established helped successfully accomplish all the tasks and demonstrate the high level of skills on the battlefield. The results of the practical stage of the exercise testify to the multinational force’s complete preparedness for joint measures for eliminating outlawed armed gangs and warding off terrorist threats," the Russian general pointed out.
The coalition successfully coped with all the assigned tasks and demonstrated high combat skills, he added. "The exercise proved to be the most dimensional maneuvers in the SCO’s history. The exercise’s active phase involved over 5,000 troops and more than 1,200 items of armament and combat hardware from the military contingents of nine countries," the commander of Russia’s Central Military District said.
The SCO’s Peace Mission 2021 counter-terror exercise ran at the Donguz training ground under the direction of Central Military District Commander Colonel-General Alexander Lapin. The drills brought together troops from Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus.