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CSTO holds drills in Tajikistan in response to worsening Afghan situation - top brass

As a specific feature of the post-Soviet security bloc’s joint maneuvers, the troops employed the latest reconnaissance and electronic warfare systems, logistic support and medical equipment

KHARB-MAIDON PRACTICE RANGE /Tajikistan/, October 23. /TASS/. The Combat Brotherhood 2021 massive drills of the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) forces that ended in Tajikistan near the Afghan border are a response to the worsening situation in Afghanistan, Russian Central Military District Commander Colonel-General Alexander Lapin said on Saturday.

"The massive drills with the CSTO Collective Operational Response Forces that came to an end in Tajikistan were a major response to the sharp deterioration of the situation in Afghanistan," the commander said at the ceremony of closing the drills.

"The drills that were held are called upon to secure the CSTO states against any terrorist threat," he stressed.

As a specific feature of the post-Soviet security bloc’s joint maneuvers, the troops employed the latest reconnaissance and electronic warfare systems, logistic support and medical equipment. In particular, in the course of the Search 2021 exercise, the bloc’s forces deployed an effective system of reconnaissance control "that helped uncover mounting threats in advance and thwart the outlawed armed gangs’ intentions," the general said.

In the course of the drills, the Moscow-led bloc created a battlefield single information space that helped rout the enemy in hard-to-access terrain in real time, the commander specified.

For the first time, the Echelon 2021 special drills were held with the logistic support forces on the mountainous and desert terrain. During the exercise, the troops employed 19 new items of special hardware that helped cut the time of preparing for combat assignments by more than three times, he added.

As a central event of the Interaction 2021 exercise, the post-Soviet security bloc’s troops conducted a joint operation where their success in routing the infiltrated outlawed armed gangs was ensured by surprise, swift and decisive operations into the entire depth of the enemy’s forces. Special operations forces and helicopter-carried search and assault groups were widely employed in the mountains. The operations by raid and outflank squads were continuously supported by aircraft of operational-tactical and army aviation, the commander specified.

"The experience acquired in the drills will serve as a reliable guarantee of fulfilling tasks in a real combat environment," the general said.