Pakistan, Türkiye conduct 2-week joint counter terrorism exercise

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) - The Pakistani and Turkish forces conducted a two-week-long counter-terrorism exercise in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the Pakistani military said on Thursday.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistan Army's media wing, the closing ceremony of the Pak-Türkiye Joint Exercise Ataturk-XIII in Counter Terrorism domain was held in the Cherat area in Nowshera district near Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The ceremony was attended by Brig. Gen. Ahmet ASIK from the Turkish military.

Combat teams from the Special Services Group of the Pakistan Army and Special Forces of Türkiye participated in the exercise that began on Feb. 10, the ISPR said in a statement.

"The exercise was aimed at refining professional skills through joint training besides harnessing the historic military-to-military relations among the friendly countries," it said.

In 2023, the 12th joint exercise in the Ataturk series was held in the Swabi district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.