China, Pakistan kick off anti-terror drill on Afghan border
BEIJING (AFP) - Chinese and Pakistani soldiers began a three-day anti-terrorism exercise on 4,000-meter (13,000-foot) mountains near the border with Afghanistan, state media reported.
The drill, the first of its kind between the two countries, was held in the Taxkorgan Tajik region in the south of China's predominantly Muslim Xinjiang region, the Elite Reference newspaper said on Wednesday.
Codenamed "Friendship 2004," the exercise took place in secrecy, with no details emerging about the nature or number of the participating troops.
According to reports in the Pakistani media, the soldiers would conduct live-fire operations, employing their most advanced weapons.
Chinese state media recently said the drills would help "maintain security and stability in the region".
China and Pakistan are traditional close allies. Islamabad relies heavily on Beijing for its defense equipment.
The western region of Xinjiang is home to China's Uighurs, a Muslim people speaking a Turkic language, and has spawned what many reports say is a strong independence movement.
China calls them terrorists, and, according to human rights groups, has used the global war on terror to justify their repression.
Many Uighurs have fled to neighboring countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan and China routinely pressures them for their return, Amnesty International said in a recent report.
Last year China published its first ever list of 11 ethnic Uighur Muslim separatists from Xinjiang and claimed some had links to Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, and had established bases in Afghanistan.