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Times of Central Asia (6 July 2017)

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on July 5 said that security forces from Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and the U.S., as well as observers from Kazakhstan, will conduct the multinational annual Regional Cooperation (RC) 2017 command-post exercise in Dushanbe, Tajikistan from July 10 to 23, 2017.

The exercise will be led by Tajikistan’s Ministry of Defense. The RC 2017 is a simulated peacekeeping operation in response to a UN mandate focusing on counter-terrorism, border security, coordination for disaster response, and stability operations. Each country will contribute service members who will work together to plan combined military operations driven by several potential scenarios. On July 19, press will be invited to observe the command-post exercise in progress at Kokhi Afsaron and interact with participants, the Central Command said.

The training provided during RC 2017 promotes cooperation and interoperability, builds functional capacity to address mutual security concerns, and enhances responsiveness between multi-national organizations. Over the course of this exercise, five nations and more than 200 personnel from the participating countries will participate.

CENTCOM also said that U.S. and Tajik troops will conduct bilateral field training exercises near Fakhrobod in Tajikistan from July 17 to 21.

In efforts to increase regional interoperability, RC 2017 provides a forum for addressing relevant regional issues through security cooperation and the exchange of information aimed at enhancing regional coordination and dialogue. This year’s Regional Cooperation exercise will focus on stability operations, border security, border control, counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics, and counter-proliferation, the Central Command said. The Regional Cooperation exercise series has been conducted annually since 2001; the last RC exercise was held September 16-28, 2016, in Massachusetts.