MOSCOW

Five of the six Eurasian countries' military bloc, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), on Tuesday began 13-day combat drills in Kyrgyzstan.

The military exercises incudes three parts and will last until September 15, the CSTO press service said in a statement.

The first part, Interaction-2024, aims to improve coordination among CSTO forces in general; the second part, Search-2024, engages intelligence units and organizes them to improve interaction; and the third part, Echelon-2024, seeks to improve communications while performing logistics tasks, the statement said.

Apart from the armed forces, the drill also includes employees from the member countries' interior and emergency situations, as well as national guard forces.

Armenia informed the organization committee about its unwillingness to participate in military exercises ahead of the drill.

The CSTO member countries include Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.