CIS military exercises in Tajikistan to involve 3,000 soldiers

Asia-Plus news agency
10 Mar 05

Dushanbe, 10 March: Five-day command and staff exercises of the
Collective Security Treaty Organization’s (CSTO) armed forces
code-named Rubezh-2005 will start in Tajikistan in early April.
Practical preparations for the exercises are currently under way
in the subunits of all the four CSTO Central Asian member states –
Tajikistan, which will be represented by servicemen of the Tajik
Defence Ministry; Kyrgyzstan; Kazakhstan; and Russia [as given;
Russia is not part of Central Asia].

Tajik Defence Minister Sherali Khayrulloyev will command the exercises,
Defence Ministry spokesman Zarobiddin Sirojov has told Avesta. He
said that the final goal of the military exercises is to develop
the coordination of actions of the command staff of the Collective
Rapid Deployment Forces (CRDF) deployed in the Central Asia region
and other headquarters of the CSTO member states’ armed forces to
prepare and hold joint military operations for protecting Tajikistan
from an attack of international gangsters.

The total number of servicemen to be involved in the exercises will
exceed 3,000. A firing exercise is to be held in the final phase of
the exercises, involving subunits from the CRDF, including aircraft
support from the Russian air base at Kant (Kyrgyzstan).

Armenia and Belarus will take part in the military exercises as
observers.