DUSHANBE, October 26, 2010, Asia-Plus — Tajikistan is participating in military exercises for Collective Operational Reaction Forces (CORF) of the Collective Security treaty Organization (CSTO).
The exercises, dubbed Interaction-2010, kicked off at the Chebarkul training ground in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region on October 25 and will last until October 29.
Tajikistan is represented by the management officers and the parachute company in the exercises that have involved 1,700 servicemen, 250 armored vehicles and over 30 combat aircraft and helicopters.
According to Russian media, the purpose of the exercises is to rehearse coordination and interaction between the CORF subunits in localizing armed conflicts within the area of the regional security.
The CSTO is a regional security organization comprising the former Soviet republics of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
RIA Novosti reports that five of the seven members signed an agreement on the creation of the Collective Operational Reaction Forces within the CSTO in February 2009. Belarus, which initially refrained from signing the deal because of a trade dispute with Russia, joined later last year.
The CORF is a Russian initiative intended to transform and expand by three to four times the existing CSTO rapid reaction dimension into a permanently ready, combat-capable force designed for intervention in crisis situations on the territory of CSTO member states. The CSTO members say the CORF is designed to improve the security of the CSTO members against existing and potential threats, including terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking and natural disasters, and to enhance the organization”s role in ensuring international security.
