DUSHANBE, August 1, 2012, Asia-Plus — More than 150 servicemen from the mountain company of the Mobile Forces and the Operational Group of the Ministry of Defense of Tajikistan will participate in an anti-terror drill for the Collective Security Treaty Organization’s (CSTO) Collective Rapid Reaction Force, dubbed Rubezh-2012 (Frontier-2012), which will kick off in Russia’s Ural Military District on August 2.
Faridoun Mahmadaliyev, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense (MoD) of Tajikistan, says the exercise’s scenario is based on carrying out a joint operation to block and annihilate the base camp of terrorists. The exercise, involving reconnaissance groups, mountain companies and operational groups of the CSTO member nations, will close on August 9.
The regional security organization was initially formed in 1992 for a five-year period by the members of the CIS Collective Security Treaty (CST) — Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, which were joined by Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Belarus the following year. A 1994 treaty “reaffirmed the desire of all participating states to abstain from the use or threat of force,” and prevented signatories from joining any “other military alliances or other groups of states” directed against members states. The CST was then extended for another five-year term in April 1999, and was signed by the presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. In October 2002, the group was renamed as the CSTO.
Uzbekistan became a full participant in the CSTO on June 23, 2006; and its membership was formally ratified by the Uzbek parliament on March 28, 2008. Uzbekistan, however, suspended its membership in the organization on June 28, 2012.
The CSTO is currently an observer organization at the United Nations General Assembly.
