The ongoing Sino-Russian joint anti-terror exercise, "Cooperation 2007," is aimed at gaining experience from one another to combat terrorism, a senior Russian military official said yesterday.

The exercise, conducted within the framework of the "Year of China" in Russia, began in Moscow on Tuesday.

"Terrorism is widespread. No single country can deal with the terrorist threat by just using its own forces," Commander-in-Chief of the Interior Troops of the Russian Interior Ministry Nikolay Rogozhkin, told reporters through a video news conference in Moscow.

Joint measures between countries are needed to fight terrorism, he said.

The first day of the joint exercise by a Chinese Snow Leopard armed police unit and a Russian special task force was "satisfactory", Rogozhkin said.

About 1,000 Chinese and Russian troops are participating the three-day exercise.

China and Russia are expanding cooperation in combating illegal immigration, smuggling and international crime, Commander of Chinese People's Armed Police Force Wu Shuangzhan said at the opening ceremony of the joint drill on Tuesday.

The exercise is not targeted at any country and doesn't infringe on the interests of or pose a threat to a third country, Xinhua News Agency quoted Wu as saying.

Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said he was "confident that the exercise would help improve mutual understanding and strengthen cooperation between the two countries".

(China Daily September 6, 2007)