Members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) that groups China and five former Soviet republics in Central Asia began joint military exercises in Kazakhstan Wednesday aimed at averting terrorist strikes from land and air.

The drill is also seen as China's bid to counterbalance the growing US military presence in the strategic and resource-rich Central Asia region.

Lieutenant General Li Qianyuan, head of the Chinese military delegation and commander of the Lanzhou Military Command, said the show of strength would help guarantee security and stability in the region.

"The military exercise... showed that the SCO member states take the same stand and hold the same determination to fight terrorism, separatism and extremism," Li was quoted as saying by the Xinhua news agency.

"It is an important step for the SCO states to step up military cooperation and mutual trust among their armed forces, and boost regional cooperation against terrorism.

"The Chinese government stands firmly against terrorism of all kinds, calls for closer international cooperation and removing the roots of terrorism."

During the first stage of "Cooperation 2003", more than 1,000 soldiers from Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan launched a mock battle to rescue air passengers held by a gang of international terrorists.

In the second stage on August 11-12, Chinese forces will practise hostage-release techniques and the destruction of a terrorist base in its Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

China shares several hundreds of kilometres (miles) of border with Kyrgyzstan in its western region of Xinjiang, whose Muslim separatist movement has been a constant worry for Beijing.

China claims the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is directly backed by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network and Washington last year branded it a terrorist organisation.

Kyrgyzstan, meanwhile, was dramatically shaken in 1999 and 2000 when rebels from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) carried out an incursion across the ex-Soviet republic's border with Tajikistan.

The IMU has also been branded a terrorist organisation with links to al-Qaeda.

The Shanghai group comprises Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia and China and was formed in 2001 in an effort to overcome lingering suspicions between Beijing and its ex-Soviet neighbours.

The drills are the first of their kind within the framework of the SCO, and the first time China's People's Liberation Army (PLA), the world's biggest army, has taken part in such a large scale joint anti-terror exercise, China's Ministry of National Defense said.

"The exercise will promote understanding, friendship, cooperation and development between the PLA and military forces of other member countries," said a ministry official, Xinhua reported.

Cash-strapped Tajikistan has an observation role in the current round of exercises but there was no mention of Uzbekistan, which maintains frosty relations with its neighbours.

A statement by the Kazhak military Wednesday said the Shanghai group was creating an anti-terrorism headquarters in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, which also hosts US-led forces engaged in stabilisation efforts in Afghanistan and a Russian airbase used by another grouping of ex-Soviet states.

WAR.WIRE