ALMATY. April 23 (Interfax-AVN) - The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) forces number about 20,000 servicemen, including 18,000 from the member-states' armed forces and some 2,000 from special services, CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha told journalists in Almaty on Friday.
These forces "can counter local military conflicts or conduct special operations," Bordyuzha said.
The CSTO Collective Rapid Deployment Force has started antiterrorist exercises coded Rubezh-2010 in Tajikistan, he said.
"More than 2,000 servicemen will take part in these exercises," he said.
The CSTO plans a number of exercises this year, in which servicemen from police and emergency situations agencies would be involved along with armed forces, Bordyuzha said.
The CSTO Secretariat will draw up a package of documents on the further development of the CSTO member-states' collective security system, Bordyuzha said. The matter involves "strategy, concept, and planning" of collective security for the CSTO member-states, he said.
"We will start drafting these documents immediately after the presidents make a decision on drawing them up," he said.