TASHKENT, July 23. /TASS/. Intelligence agencies from Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states have held a joint counterterrorism exercise in China, the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) said in a statement.

"In accordance with the SCO RATS Council's decision of September 8, 2023, the relevant agencies of SCO member states prepared and held joint counterterrorism drills dubbed ‘Cooperation - Counterterrorism 2024’ in the Xinjiang autonomous region of China," the statement reads.

The SCO RATS pointed out that the terrorist threat was especially high in certain regions, posing a danger to citizens in the organization’s member states. "Major terrorist attacks lead to numerous civilian casualties and pose a serious security threat throughout the SCO area," the statement notes.

The document emphasized that "the goal of the exercises was to prepare special counterterrorism units for the relevant agencies of the SCO countries to conduct joint activities to respond to the threats of terrorist attacks on their soil, particularly through the use of information and communication technologies."

During the drills, activities were carried out to fight cyberterrorism, as well as a joint counterterrorism activity aimed at preventing the actions of a terrorist group and curb terrorist threats.

The exercise not only was a test of cooperation between security agencies from SCO nations but also made it possible to enhance the skills of counterterrorism forces and carry out useful research on how to organize joint activities to ensure regional security and stability, the RATS press service stressed

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization,founded in 2001, currently brings together Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The SCO RATS is headquartered in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent.