China, Kyrgyzstan hold anti- terror drill in Xinjiang

Frontier forces from China and Kyrgyzstan held a joint antiterrorist exercise on Tuesday in Kizilsu Kirgiz Prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, in Northwest China.

The drill, carried out under the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization ( SCO), was witnessed by representatives from Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, all the SCO member countries.

A total of 700 police offi cers from the two countries, aided by armored vehicles, were involved in the drill.

Video footage broadcast by China’s state media showed a police van cutting off a minibus and then speedily reversing away through simulated explosions as an attacker struck the van’s windshield with a baton.

Other footage showed helicopters fi ring what appeared to be live missiles at a mountaintop target, jeeps mounted with machineguns subjected to simulated ambushes, and offi - cers practicing riot control with police dogs.

Chen Dingwu, head of the border management administration under the Ministry of Public Security and also commander- in- chief of the drill, said the drill featured simulated weapon smuggling by armed terrorists from Kyrgyzstan to China. It tested the joint action ability in checking terrorism in the border region.

Wang Jian, assistant minister of public security, said the drill refl ects SCO member countries’ highly consistent stand and resolution in fi ghting against terrorism, secessionism and extremism.

Beijing says security in Xinjiang is under threat from militant separatists, in particular from the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. A car bomber attacked the Chinese embassy in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek last year.