ASTANA -- Military exercises by several members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) have started in northern Kazakhstan, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.
Some 6,000 Kazakh troops, more than 200 military vehicles, and 60 jets, cargo planes, and helicopters will be involved in the Interaction-2009 maneuvers, which began on September 15.
The exercises will last until mid-October and military personnel from Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan are taking part in different stages of the maneuvers.
On September 14, the military exercises Steppe Eagle 2009, involving Kazakh, U.S., and British soldiers began in Kazakhstan's southern Ili region, near Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city.