NATO and Kazakhstan hold peacekeeping exercise
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The joint peacekeeping exercise "Steppe Eagle 2008" was held near Almaty from 15 to 27 September with the participation of troops from the United States and UK. The annual drill is meant to improve the commanders’ coordination skills and to evaluate the readiness of the Kazakh peacekeeping units to take part in NATO-led operations.
The NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, Ambassador Robert F. Simmons, attended the event.
Kazakhstan became a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace programme in 1995. The peacekeeping exercises with the participation of units of the Kazakh Defence Ministry and NATO countries have been carried out since 1997.