Pakistan participates in trilateral ‘Brotherhood’ drill

The opening ceremony of trilateral exercise "Brotherhood" being hosted by Azerbaijan was held in Baku on Sunday, the military said.

According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the exercise will be conducted in the counter-terrorism domain from September 11 to 22, 2021.

"Special forces from Pakistan, Azerbaijan and Turkey are participating in the subject exercise," it added.

This is the first such drill among the three brotherly countries. The goal of the exercise is to improve cooperation among the special forces and to share knowledge and experience, according to Azerbaijan's defence ministry on Saturday.

Read more: Pak-Turk joint military exercise ‘Ataturk-XI’ concludes

In February, Pakistan hosted a joint military exercise, titled Ataturk-XI 2021, between Pakistani and Turkish special forces at the Special Service Group Headquarters in Tarbela.

“The three-week-long exercise focused on counter-terrorism operations including cordon and search techniques, built-up area clearance drills with combat aviation support, hostage rescue. Freefall by paratroopers and martial arts were also practised during the training,” the ISPR had said.

Pakistan and Turkey enjoy close cooperation but the recent regional developments further have brought the two countries closer.

Both the countries had also agreed to deepen their defence cooperation and stressed the need for early implementation of the ‘Pakistan-Turkey Strategic Economic Framework’.

Islamabad and Ankara have enjoyed close defence relations. Special forces from both the countries routinely engage in joint drills to further improve upon skills and coordination.