MOSCOW. March 27 (Interfax-AVN) - About 500 servicemen will participate in the active phase of the anti-terrorism exercise of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Colonel General Ivan Babichev, first deputy chief of the CSTO Unified HQ, said.
"Over 500 servicemen, 50 armored vehicles, a wing of Su-25 attack aircraft and a flight of Mi-24 helicopters will participate in the third phase of the exercise which is going to be organized at the 201st Russian base in Tajikistan," he said opening the first phase of the Rubezh 2006 command post exercise in Moscow on Tuesday.
According to him, Russia will allocate a task force to participate in the exercises, while Kazakhstan and Tajikistan will be represented by maneuver units.
Babichev is put in charged of the exercise. He said that Uzbekistan will for the first time take part in the maneuvers, and will be represented by an operations team of its national Armed Forces.
Belarus and Armenia will send their military officials to observe the exercises.
Babichev added that at the first phase of the exercises to be held at the CSTO Unified HQ in Moscow on Tuesday and Wednesday, the participants will practice interoperability of staffs, operations teams, CSTO secretariat and Armed Forces of member-states to assess military, political and strategic situation and specify tasks for the Collective Rapid Response Force in Central Asia to eliminate terrorist groups.
Some officers of CSTO member states, being instructed at military academies of the Russian Defense Ministry, will take part in the tabletop phase of the exercises.
Babichev also said that Rubezh 2007 will see participation of an operational group of the CIS antiterrorism center. "The center is a long-time partner of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, because our goals are quite the same, and combating terrorism is one of the priorities for both," he said, adding that the center has taken part in all CSTO exercises for five years.
Asked whether the exercises will take in consideration the situation in Iran, he said that the leadership keeps an eye on the developments, but does not place a special focus on the situation in Iran.
During the second and third stages of the exercises at the Lyaur training ground in Tajikistan, the Collective Rapid Response Force in Central Asia will refine interoperability of its units in the course of a counter-terrorism operation, and command and control of units on the ground during search and destroy of terrorists, as well as ways to counter their ambushes and covert operations.