A joint four-day anti-terror drill for Tajik and Chinese servicemen is starting in the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) tomorrow, according to the Ministry of Defense (MoD) of Tajikistan.

The main purpose of the exercise that will be conducted at the training ground in the Ishkashim district is to rehearse coordination and interaction in the counter-terrorist missions in mountains, an official source at a MoD told Asia-Plus in an interview.

According to him, the exercise will involve about 10,000 servicemen reinforced with armored carriers, artillery and aircraft.

“China will be presented in the exercise by a mobile company of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA),” the source said, noting that flag officers from Tajikistan and China will observe the exercise.

Recall that Tajikistan together with Afghanistan and Pakistan joined China in a military alliance aimed at countering Islamist militancy.

According to some sources, military leaders from the four countries gathered on August 4 this year in the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang to announce the alliance, the Pakistani Army said.

Known as the Quadrilateral Cooperation and Coordination Mechanism, the alliance is reportedly meant to bring together member states in areas of counterterrorism and intelligence, the army said.