1,500 troops to attend China-Russia joint drills

BEIJING - The spokesman for China's Defense Ministry said Thursday that China and Russia will send over 1,500 troops to attend joint counter-terrorism drills slated for later this week.

Spokesman Geng Yansheng said at a monthly briefing that the armed forces of China and Russia will hold the Peace Mission-2013 joint drills in Chelyabinsk in Russia's Ural Mountainous region from July 27 to August 15.

He said the Chinese troops attending the drills include a planning panel, a command, an infantry combat group, an air force combat group and a logistics group.

Geng said the Chinese troops will be equipped with various models of armed vehicles, self-propelled guns, and fixed-wing and rotating-wing aircraft, including Z-9 and M-171 helicopters.

He said the drills will have three phases, including troop deployment, war planning and campaign drills.