AGL 40.02 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.05%)
AIRLINK 127.35 Increased By ▲ 0.31 (0.24%)
BOP 6.61 Decreased By ▼ -0.06 (-0.9%)
CNERGY 4.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.22%)
DCL 8.67 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.4%)
DFML 41.89 Increased By ▲ 0.45 (1.09%)
DGKC 87.70 Increased By ▲ 0.85 (0.98%)
FCCL 32.67 Increased By ▲ 0.39 (1.21%)
FFBL 64.99 Increased By ▲ 0.19 (0.29%)
FFL 10.25 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
HUBC 109.52 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.05%)
HUMNL 14.74 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.41%)
KEL 5.09 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (0.79%)
KOSM 7.57 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (1.47%)
MLCF 41.30 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-0.19%)
NBP 59.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.71 (-1.18%)
OGDC 193.70 Increased By ▲ 3.60 (1.89%)
PAEL 28.30 Increased By ▲ 0.47 (1.69%)
PIBTL 7.71 Decreased By ▼ -0.12 (-1.53%)
PPL 151.70 Increased By ▲ 1.64 (1.09%)
PRL 26.30 Decreased By ▼ -0.58 (-2.16%)
PTC 16.10 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.19%)
SEARL 83.75 Decreased By ▼ -2.25 (-2.62%)
TELE 7.76 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.65%)
TOMCL 35.49 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (0.23%)
TPLP 8.14 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.25%)
TREET 16.12 Decreased By ▼ -0.29 (-1.77%)
TRG 53.05 Decreased By ▼ -0.24 (-0.45%)
UNITY 26.37 Increased By ▲ 0.21 (0.8%)
WTL 1.25 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.79%)
BR100 9,953 Increased By 69.4 (0.7%)
BR30 30,908 Increased By 307.7 (1.01%)
KSE100 93,812 Increased By 456.3 (0.49%)
KSE30 29,062 Increased By 130.9 (0.45%)

Thousands of Russian and Belarussian soldiers began joint training on Friday on the first day of a planned two weeks of war games and operational exercises. Taking part in the Zapad-2009 manoeuvres are 6,000 Russian service personnel, 6,500 Belorussians and 30 Kazakhstani military personnel, officials at the Belarus Ministry of Defence said.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Belarussian President Aleksander Lukashenko were scheduled to visit training sites at a later date. Belarus' Obuz-Lesnikovsky firing range and manoeuvre training centre is the operational base for most units, but units operating from two smaller Russian military bases near the Belorussian border would also participate, according to a Bel-1 television report. A total of 228 tanks, 234 artillery pieces and 103 combat or transport aircraft were mobilised for the combat operations and gunnery training, according to the report.
Relations between Russia and Belarus have been rocky in recent years. Conflicts include the Kremlin's refusal to continue subsidies for energy delivered to Belarus, Belorussian efforts to get its manufactured goods into the Russian market, and a stalled treaty for adoption of a single currency. But military co-operation has continued, with Russian early-warning radars operating in Belarus, and annual exercises featuring joint training for air and land battles against a potential opponent from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

Copyright Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 2009

Comments

Comments are closed.