DUSHANBE. March 24 (Interfax-AVN) - A Kazakh military unit has arrived in Tajikistan, the Tajik Defense Ministry press-service told Interfax on Thursday.
The press-service notes that the Kazakh military unit has arrived in Dushanbe to participate in the second stage of the joint Rubezh 2005 command post exercise.
The press-service said that a Kyrgyz military unit arrived in Tajikistan on Monday. "Now preparations for the joint tactical exercise involving all participants will be shifted to the firing range," a press-service official said.
He notes that the Rubezh 2005 exercise, involving CSTO member-states will be held in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan from March 29 until April 6.
The first command post exercise stage will be held in Kyrgyzstan under supervision of the Kyrgyz defense minister, while the second stage, involving rapid-deployment collective forces and live firing, will be held in Tajikistan under supervision of the Tajik defense minister, the press-service says.
The exercise is aimed at refining the process of working out and realizing joint decision on employing collective security forces in the course of a joint operation, aimed at protecting sovereignty and territorial integrity of Central Asia states.
They exercise also plans to coordinate border guard forces, law-enforcement agencies, and special services with CIS counter-terrorism bodies with regards to countering threats and challenges facing national, regional, and international security, the Tajik Defense Ministry press-service told Interfax.
According to the press-service official, the airlift of Kyrgyz and Kazakh military units, conducted to refine mobility, was completed on Thursday.
Tajikistan will host the headquarters of the Collective Rapid Deployment Forces in Central Asia.