Pakistani and Kazakhstan special forces have begun joint military drill in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday, said a statement.
The Dostarym III drill is being held at the Pakistan Army’s counterterrorism training school, the National Counter Terrorism Center, located in the town of Pabbi in Khyber Pakhtunkwa province, said the statement by the army.
It added that the exercise aims to “develop and bolster coordination between the two armies” in the domain of counter-terrorism.
Special forces from both countries will take part in hostage rescue, compound clearance, helicopter rappelling, and close-quarters battle drills and procedures.
The exercise, the statement said, will focus on integrated synergy, interoperability, quick decision making and swift action at a tactical level.
Military officials of both countries were present at the occasion. The first joint exercise was held in 2017 in Pakistan, while the second was in 2019 in Kazakhstan, the statement added.
Tensions For Kazakhstan
The developments in Afghanistan do not pose a direct threat to Kazakhstan but involve certain risks, so the country must be ready to respond to any challenges, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had stated.
Tokayev attended the operational and tactical drills Kaisar-2021 drills in the Almaty Region.
“The developments in this country [Afghanistan] do not pose a direct threat to Kazakhstan but do entail certain risks. Thus, we must monitor the developments and be ready to adequately respond to any challenges,” Tokayev told participants in the drills.
Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Akan Rahmetullin confirmed on Friday that his country did not recognize the Taliban as the legitimate governing power in Afghanistan after the militants took over the nation last week.
Earlier, Kazakhstan has taken steps to increase the readiness of its armed forces due to the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, the Kazakh Defense Ministry said.
“In light of the deterioration of the situation in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the armed forces have taken measures to strengthen vigilance. First of all, this affects the units of special operations forces, frontline and transport aviation, and air defense,” the ministry said in a statement.
Defense Minister Nurlan Yermekbayev instructed the military to monitor and analyze the situation in the region, as well as maintain a round-the-clock alert, the statement said.
“We need to constantly evaluate the emerging risks and choose what is most relevant for us at the moment, where to apply our main efforts,” the minister was quoted as saying.
On 15th August, the Taliban completed their takeover of Afghanistan by entering Kabul. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani resigned and left the country to prevent what he described as bloodshed that would occur if militants had to fight for the city.
With Inputs from Anadolu Agency and Sputnik
