Thousands of troops from Indonesia, the US, and allies held a live-fire drill on August 12 as part of the Super Garuda Shield 2022.

Illustrative image (Photo: AFP)

The Super Garuda Shield 2022 is being organised on Indonesia’s Sumatra island and Riau island province near Singapore and Malaysia, with army, naval and air forces taking part. At least 4,000 Indonesian and US soldiers are joining the two week-long drill aimed to improve the capacity of responding to challenges, including issues related to security, disasters and humanitarian missions.

The US side said the drill is the largest-ever in history and meant to affirm the importance of a free and open Indo-Pacific.

The Super Garuda Shield 2022 also saw the participation of troops from Australia, Singapore and Japan, while Canada, France, India, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and the UK joined the drill as observers.

Only four countries, namely the US, Indonesia, Australia and Singapore, joined the live-fire drill on August 12.

Source: VNA