CIS anti-terrorist center conducts exercise

The Anti-terrorist Center of the Commonwealth of Independent States conducts a joint special tactical exercise called Azov-Antiterror 2003 for anti-terrorist units specializing in liberation of hostages and neutralization of terrorists in sea ports. The exercise is staged in the Crimea, Ukraine.

According to a source in the Public Relations Center of Russia's Federal Border Service, or the FSB, the main objective is to drill cooperation between operational headquarters of the two countries' security bodies and coordinate actions between various departments participating in special operations to prevent terrorist attacks on the Kerch ferry service.

The three-day exercise involves officers of Russian, Ukrainian and Kazakh special services, consists of three stages, and is staged in the Kavkaz port of Russia's Krasnodar territory and the Krym port, Ukraine.