All members of SCO holds the first joint anti-terrorism drill
Authorities from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member states conduct Anti-terrorism Interaction-2024 joint exercise in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in July 2024.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) recently held its first joint anti-terrorism drill featuring all member states. The large-scale exercise showed the SCO’s determination and capabilities in tackling resurging threats from terrorism.
Relevant authorities from SCO member states recently conducted the Anti-terrorism Interaction-2024 joint exercise in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It marked the first time the relevant authorities from all SCO member states have participated in a joint anti-terrorism drill featuring live forces.
With Belarus becoming the 10th official member state earlier this month, the SCO comprises China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Targeting signs of terrorist organizations conducting sabotage activities, the exercise set training courses including a special operation on eliminating terrorist groups.
Photos released with the report show that soldiers and police officers fully armed with assault rifles, pistols, riot shields launching an assault, some via armoured and all-terrain vehicles and some via helicopter, with aerial drones and robot dogs also deployed in the exercise.
The SCO had previously held several anti-terrorism exercises, but they were bilateral or multilateral and did not feature all member states. The latest drill reflected that all SCO member states share a common understanding toward the threats posed by terrorism.
Countries in Central, South and West Asia are all facing terrorist threats of various sources. India has been fighting terrorism since last 40 years and Russia just suffered from a concert hall terrorist attack in Moscow in March. Resurgence of terrorist activities have been observed also in other parts of the world such as Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe and Americas.
Since terrorist threats often spill over to other countries and flow around the globe, the latest large-scale SCO exercise was held under the current situation to enhance the member states’ capabilities and interoperability in joint anti-terrorism operations, analysts said.
