Georgian troops join Turkish, Azeri special forces for drills

Georgian troops are teaming up with their Turkish and Azeri counterparts in a series of defence drills within Caucasian Eagle 2017 exercise held outside the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

Launched earlier today, the third edition of the exercise involves special operations units from the three countries.

Over the next 10 days, service members will work to develop interoperability and coordination in operations held at Vaziani Training Area’s IV Mechanised Brigade firing range.

The special operations troops will also look to share knowledge and experience of missions featuring land forces as well as air assets.

The Ministry of Defence of Georgia said tactical, shooting and engineering tasks would be part of the drills.

In addition, the involved units will undergo training for combat in residential areas and medical aid.

The Georgian ministry also said involved units would have to identify and neutralise "high value targets” set out within combat scenarios.

Caucasian Eagle 2017 is being held in Georgia for the first time and follows two exercises under its banner, hosted by Turkey.

The drills are held on the back of the defence ministerial involving high-ranking officials from the three countries, which ended in Tbilisi last month.

The official meeting saw defence ministers of Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan agree to widen cooperation in a bid to ensure regional security and stability.