DUSHANBE , July 18, Asia -Plus - Tajik servicemen are taking part a 10-day international anti-terrorism exercise, dubbed “Regional Cooperation 200” that started in Kyrgyzstan yesterday.  

According to information Tajikistan ’s National Guards, the “Regional Cooperation 2006” involves South and Central Asian states. It is designed to strengthen relations and regional cooperation, improve interoperability and increase knowledge and understanding of regional forces operating in a multinational environment.

Kyrgyzstan , Afghanistan , Kazakhstan , Pakistan , Tajikistan and the United States are participating in a series of symposiums, seminars, coordination and crisis response exercises, and computer-assisted command post exercises.  Russia and Turkmenistan have been invited as observers.

The source says the main goal of the exercise is to practice dealing with natural disasters under pressure from terrorists.

The participants have set up national operational emergency-response centers whose work is coordinated by a Regional Coordinating Center .  

Earlier, such exercises were conducted in the United States (2004) and Germany (2005).