Joint military exercise targets terrorism

Five of the six members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization started a six-day military exercise on Sunday in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region to coordinate anti-terrorism capabilities, which have increasingly become a task requiring mutual assistance.

The exercise, code-named "Peace Mission 2014", is scheduled to run from Sunday to Friday and aims to deter the "three evil forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism, said Wang Ning, chief director of the drill and deputy chief of the general staff of the People's Liberation Army.

Founded in Shanghai in 2001, the SCO groups China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan are observers. Belarus, Turkey and Sri Lanka are dialogue partners.