Vladimir Radyuhin
MOSCOW: Anti-terrorist war games organised by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) got underway in Russia on Saturday.
About 6,000 soldiers, 1,000 combat vehicles and scores of aircraft will practise combat skills in “Peace Mission 2007”, a week-long drill in the Chelyabinsk Region of Russia in western Siberia.
It is the biggest military exercise staged by the SCO and the first one involving all the six member-states — Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. On August 17, the leaders of the SCO will watch the final phase of the war games after holding a summit meeting in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Military attaches from the SCO observer states — India, Pakistan, Iran and Mongolia, as well as some other countries, have been invited to watch the games.
However, a U.S. request to send observers was turned down.
