YEKATERINBURG, October 21. /TASS/. The collective rapid deployment force of the Central Asian region has completed practical operations in southern Tajikistan as part of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) exercise Rubezh-2022. The drills lasted almost two weeks, culminating in an operation to liberate a rural community, the joint press center of the exercise said on Friday.
"The Rubezh-2022 exercise of the Collective Rapid Deployment Force (CRDF) of the CSTO member states of the Central Asian region (CAR) has ended in Tajikistan. Practical operations took place at the Harbmaydon training site near the border with Afghanistan," the news release says.
During drills the participating contingents practiced preparations for and conduct of combat operations to destroy illegal armed groups that had intruded into the territory of a CSTO member country. In the final stage, an artillery group stopped the advance of the militants’ forces and the army aviation group of the Central Military District and Tajikistan’s Defense Ministry provided support for a counteroffensive. In the end, commando units carried out an operation to liberate the village captured by the "militants.''
The exercise was held on October 10-21. The active phase began on October 17. About 1,000 personnel - military contingents delegated by the states of the Central Asian region, operative groups of the CSTO Joint Staff and Secretariat - took part in the drills. Personnel from the Central Military Region’s 201st military base constituted the backbone of the Russian contingent. More than 300 pieces of military and special equipment, including planes, helicopters and UAVs, were involved.