Egypt Defense Ministry Says Russia-Egypt Anti-Terror Drills Testify Strategic Cooperation

The Russia-Egypt joint anti-terrorist Defenders of Friendship exercises demonstrate the depth of strategic cooperation between the two countries, the Egyptian Defense Ministry said Monday in a statement.

CAIRO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th October, 2018) The Russia-Egypt joint anti-terrorist Defenders of Friendship exercises demonstrate the depth of strategic cooperation between the two countries, the Egyptian Defense Ministry said Monday in a statement.

On Sunday, some 200 Russian paratroopers arrived in Egypt to take part in the drills.

"These exercises demonstrate the depth of strategic cooperation between the two countries," a representative of the ministry said as quoted in the statement.

He noted that the Defenders of Friendship were being held for the third time.

Last year, joint military exercises involving Russia's Airborne Troops and paratroopers of the Egyptian Armed Forces, dubbed Defenders of Friendship-2017, took place in Russia's southern Krasnodar Territory.

The first such drills were held in 2016 in Egypt's Alexandria.