CIS SECURITY BLOC’S DRILL IN KAZAKHSTAN "UNPRECEDENTED MERGER" – OFFICIAL

Source: Interfax-AVN military news agency website, Moscow
23 Aug 06

Aktau, 23 August: The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)
is an unprecedented military political merger on the CIS territory,
Col-Gen Ivan Babichev, deputy chief of the CSTO Unified HQ, said at
the opening ceremony of the Rubezh-2006 exercise in Kazakhstan today.

"The CSTO is an unprecedented merger on the post-Soviet territory,
as far as commitments undertaken by member states in the field of
military integration are concerned," Babichev said.

According to him, the article, saying that aggression against one
or more CSTO member states will be considered aggression against all
member states and that other member states will provide the necessary
assistance, including military one, is the most crucial section of
the Treaty.

Babichev noted that the following collective security regions defended
territorial integrity and sovereignty of CSTO member states: the East
European Region (Russia, Belarus), the Caucasian (Russia, Armenia),
and the Central Asian (Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan).

"The Collective Rapid Deployment Forces are the forward echelon of
the CSTO military component," Babichev emphasized.

He pointed out that Rubezh-2006 was another step, aimed at training
CSTO member states’ armed forces. It is conducted under the decision
of the CSTO Defence Ministers Council. The exercise will refine taking
decisions on employing the CRDF, combating threats and challenges,
including international terrorism and extremism, planning joint
operations, organizing cooperation with uniformed agencies of CSTO
member states.

Rubezh-2006 is held at a firing range 30 km east of the town of Aktau
in Kazakhstan. The exercise is headed by Kazakh Defence Minister
Army Gen Mukhtar Altynbaev. It involves about 2,500 servicemen, 60
armoured vehicles, almost 50 guns and mortars, about 40 aircraft and
helicopters, and 14 warships and auxiliary weapons.