A multinational antiterror exercise under the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will be held in Kazakhstan from September 9 to 25, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng announced Thursday.

The drill, "Peace Mission 2010," would be the seventh of its kind, Geng said.

More than 5,000 troops from Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan would be involved, he said.

Geng said the exercise aimed to demonstrate SCO member states' determination and capacity to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism, showcase their mutual trust and pragmatic cooperation, and the shared wish to protect regional peace and stability as well as to boost common development and prosperity.

About 1,000 personnel from the land and air forces of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) would take part in the exercise, Geng said.

The chiefs of staff of the armed forces of the participating countries would announce the launch of the drill in Almaty in Kazakhstan, and defense ministers from the SCO member countries would observe, said Geng.

The drill was in accordance with the Charter of the SCO and the SCO's fundamental purpose to maintain and strengthen regional peace, security and stability, Wang Haiyun, senior advisor of the China Institute for International Strategic Studies, told Xinhua Thursday.

It was also planned in consideration of an increasingly complicated security situation in the regions around the SCO members, Wang said.

The SCO anti-terrorism drills were a new form of cooperation among the SCO members and had effectively deterred some terrorist forces, he said.

Chinese armed forces have participated in anti-terrorism drills under the framework of the SCO, which includes Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, since 2002.

(Xinhua News Agency August 26, 2010)