Photos published by the Russian Defense Ministry on Sept. 17, 2019 show the ongoing Tsentr-2019 (Center-2019) military exercises.

A total of 130,000 people, over 20,000 units of military equipment and about 600 aircrafts will be involved in the exercises.

BISHKEK, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Center-2019 command and staff exercises have started in Kyrgyzstan, the press service of the country's General Staff said Wednesday.

The opening of the exercises took place at the Edelweiss training ground of the Armed Forces of Kyrgyzstan, it said.

The drills, which will run till Sept. 21, will be held with the participation of military contingents of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, India and China in several states.

The main operations of the drills are planned at the military training grounds of Russia. A number of tactical episodes will be also held on the territories of the countries participating in the exercises, the press service said.

In total, almost 130,000 people, over 20,000 units of military equipment and about 600 aircrafts will be involved in the exercises aimed at training forces in modern conditions and strengthening the cooperation with the allies.

During the exercises, groupings of forces of the coalition of partner countries will be tested in solving the tasks of combating international terrorism and ensuring military security in the Central Asian strategic direction. ■