Around 7,000 servicemen from China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan are participating in military exercises that Russian and Chinese media say are the largest ever held by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
The six-day anti-terrorist drills started in China's Inner Mongolia province on August 24. They involve ground troops, aviation, air defense systems and radio-electronic warfare.
The execises, dubbed Peace Mission 2014, are being supervised by the deputy chief of Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s General Staff, Wang Ning.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a six-nation security alliance dominated by Russia and China and seen as a counterweight to NATO.
Based on reporting by Xinhua and ITAR-TASS