MINSK, October 8. /TASS/. Security services of Russia, Belarus, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, and Uzbekistan held a joint exercise in Minsk to practice thwarting terrorist attacks with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on a site with a large gathering of people and on a critical infrastructure facility, as well as a joint counterterrorism operation to eliminate an illegal armed group that had infiltrated a populated area.

The special forces’ operations took place as part of the final phase of the Eurasia-Antiterror 2026 exercise, organized by the Belarusian KGB with the support of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Anti-Terrorism Center (ATC) and the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) during the CIS-SCO Counterterrorism Forum currently taking place in Minsk.

"The exercise involving the competent authorities of the CIS and SCO member states was organized as part of cooperation between the two international organizations, which provides for the simultaneous execution of specific training tasks united by a common concept and scenario, as well as the location and timing of their conduct," the CIS ATC press office reported. In total, the competent authorities of 10 states - Russia, Belarus, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan - took part in this year’s exercise.

During the first phase, the exercise was conducted within the national territories of the participating states to practice joint operations by security agencies and financial intelligence units of the CIS member states aimed at countering the financing of terrorism, as well as operations by security agencies of the CIS and SCO member states aimed at identifying and suppressing the activities of international terrorist organizations. Under the coordination of the operation headquarters established under the CIS Anti-Terrorism Center and the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure, the participants practiced the exchange of current significant information using the CIS and SCO shared information systems. At the conclusion of the exercises in the Belarusian capital, the participants toured an exhibition of weapons and special equipment.

The CIS Anti-Terrorist Center emphasized that anti-terrorist exercises are an important element in the development of a system of practical cooperation among the special services of the CIS and SCO member states. The exercise participants gain experience in planning, preparing, and conducting joint counterterrorism operations, and refine the forms and methods of coordinated actions to detect and prevent terrorist acts, taking into account changes in the operational situation, current challenges, and threats.

This was the second time that joint CIS-SCO counterterrorism exercises were held--the first took place in Kyrgyzstan in 2023. A distinctive feature of the Eurasia-Antiterror 2026 exercise was the participation of special operations units from six countries in carrying out training tasks on the territory of a single state.