Some 100 Russian and Pakistani troops participated in exercises involving reconnaissance and sabotage operations as part of joint Druzhba-2016 (“Friendship-2016”) drills in Pakistan, Russia’s Southern Military District (SMD) said.

The drills took place from 03-10 October at the Army High Altitude School in northern Pakistan’s Rattu and at a Special Forces training center in Cherat.  

The drills involved the use of LPR-3 laser ranging devices and Strelets reconnaissance, control and communication complexes fitted with the Glonass satellite navigation system, according to the SMD.

“On October 3, Russian and Pakistani troops carried out joint reconnaissance and sabotage operations in the rear of an improvised enemy at a special forces training center in Cherat, Pakistan,” the SMD press service said in a statement.

The troops had to detect and destroy an improvised enemy command post located in Cherat’s mountainous terrain. The two countries' army personnel improved their reconnaissance and search skills, as well as concealing movements with the use of terrain.

The Pakistani Army and the Russian Ground Forces have come together in military exercises for the first time on September 24, with around 70 personnel from Russia’s Southern Military District (SMD) mechanized infantry brigade, stationed in the Karachaevo-Cherkessian Republic, and a total of 200 troops in total taking part on both sides.

Meanwhile, Russian paratroopers are expected to travel to Egypt this month to take part in joint military exercises to practice the destruction of illegal armed groups in desert, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

“For the first time in history a Russian paratrooper unit with its own weaponry and equipment is planning to leave for Africa to participate in a joint international exercise. According to the plan, Russian servicemen will leave for the Arab Republic of Egypt in October,” the Ministry said in a statement.

The goal of the drills for Egyptian and Russian forces is to determine joint strategies of localization and destruction of a simulated enemy’s forces in desert.

Furthermore, Russia’s Land Force will conduct joint exercises with Indian, Mongolian, Pakistani, and Vietnamese troops in 2017, the Force’s Commander-in-Chief, Colonel General Oleg Salyukov, said.

“Next year we will conduct joint exercises with troops of Pakistan, India, Mongolia, Vietnam, Nicaragua and CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization’s) member states,” Salyukov told reporters.

The CSTO is an intergovernmental military alliance of former Soviet states, which comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.