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Kyrgyz law enforcement agencies hold anti-terrorism drills

31 October 2012 22:55 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Kyrgyz law enforcement bodies and local authorities launched joint exercises Wednesday to brace for terrorism threat, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The Border-Antiterrorist 2012 exercise was organized by the Kyrgyz National Security Committee together with the Interior Ministry, the Defense Ministry, the Emergency Situations’ Ministry, the Transport Ministry, the Heath Ministry and the local authorities in the Issyk-Kul region of north Kyrgyzstan.

Before the beginning of the exercise, Talaibek Zhaparov, head of the Kyrgyz operations headquarters and deputy director of the Anti-terrorist Center, said the exercise is very important because "the region is witnessing the intensification of international terrorist groups that do not rule out acts of sabotage and terrorism at strategic economic facilities, which can have serious technical and economic implications."

The exercise involved special units from the Defense Ministry, Interior Ministry and the Emergency Situations’ Ministry, Mi-8 combat helicopters, armored personnel vehicles, ambulance teams and one fire brigade.

"There has always been a threat of terrorism in Kyrgyzstan," Zhaparov said. "We live in a region bordering restless countries, and the Afghan-Pakistani zone. Many extremist and religious organizations are rooted in the zone where they have all the right conditions and support," he said.

He did not rule out the possibility that after the withdrawal of the international coalition, "terrorist threat in Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan, in particular, will only grow."

The second stage of the anti-terrorist exercise is scheduled in Osh, south Kyrgyzstan in November.