China and Pakistan announce first joint counterterrorism drills in 5 years
The Warrior-8 exercise is announced weeks after the latest deadly suicide attack targeting Chinese workers in the country
The drills, known as Warrior-8, would take place between late November to mid-December, China’s defence ministry said on Tuesday, without disclosing the location.
Troops from the People’s Liberation Army’s Western Theatre Command will be taking part in the exercise, which is focused on “joint counterterrorism clearance operations” and improving practical cooperation, according to the ministry said.
It said the two sides would conduct “multilevel, multi-speciality integrated training, simulating real combat scenarios through joint planning and live drills”.
The exercise will be the eighth counterterrorism drill involving the two countries and the first since 2019.
In recent years there have been a series of attacks on Chinese targets and citizens in Pakistan, including a suicide bombing near Jinnah International Airport in the southern city of Karachi in early October.
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