Ukrainian, NATO Troops On Final Day Of Antiterror Drill

13 October 2005 -- Several hundred troops and disaster relief teams from Ukraine, the United States, and 10 other countries today concluded a major NATO-sponsored antiterrorism exercise aimed at practicing joint responses to a chemical attack.
The four-day Joint Assistance 2005 drill, which was held near Ukraine's border with NATO-member Poland, concluded with a mock terrorist attack on a chemical facility, gun battles with pretend terrorists, and rescue operations.

Troops parachuted out of helicopters, soldiers set off stun grenades, and emergency crews fought a giant plume of fire and smoke.

Representatives of the NATO-led Department for Emergency Situations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons were among the participants.

Some 30 countries also sent observers to the drill, which included a major deployment of field hospitals, rescue equipment, and armored vehicles.

(AP)

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