DUSHANBE, February 1, 2016, Asia-Plus – The Ministry of Defense of Tajikistan (MoD) is expected to conduct a large-scale military exercise in Khatlon province.

“The exercise that will be conducted in early March is expected  to involve approximately 50,000 people, including soldiers, reservists, local police, and civilian support services,” Faridoun Mahmadaliyev, a spokesman for a MoD, told Asia-Plus in an interview.

According to him, servicemen of the Russian military base deployed in Tajikistan will also participate in the upcoming exercise.

The purpose of the exercise is to rehearse organization of territorial defense, mobilization of reservists as well as coordination and interaction in anti-terror missions, Mahmadaliyev said.

Meanwhile, Russia media outlets on February 1 cited  commander of the Russian Central Military District, Colonel-General Vladimir Zarudnitskiy, as saying, “Russian and Tajik servicemen will conduct a joint exercise in some border districts of Tajikistan’s Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) in March this year.”

According to him, the exercise will involve about 1,500 servicemen and its purpose will be to rehearse coordination and interaction in annihilating terrorist groups in mountains.