MOSCOW. Nov 23 (Interfax-AVN) - The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is working out a concept of deploying a large military force in Central Asia, CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha said on Tuesday.
"A large unified group of forces is to be established in Central Asia. It will combine units of armed forces of the CSTO member nations, namely Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Their strength may total about 10,000 people," Bordyuzha told Interfax-Military News Agency.
The main goal of the force's establishment is to prevent a possible military threat to CSTO members' sovereignty, he said.
The Collective Rapid Deployment Force, currently operating in Central Asia, will be a component of the new larger force, Bordyuzha noted.
"Being the most mobile component, the Collective Rapid Deployment Force will become an operational element of the unified military force in Central Asia," he said.
The CSTO Council of Defense Ministers will consider the concept of the force's establishment at its session in Moscow on Thursday, Bordyuzha noted.
The CSTO currently brings together Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
The Collective Rapid Deployment Force was established on May 25, 2001 in line with a decision of the presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. It currently consists of nine battalions totaling about 4,000 personnel. A Russian airbase was established in Kyrgyzstan's Kant in October 2003 in the interests of the force.