China and Kazakhstan - both members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization - will hold an anti-terrorism exercise along their borders from Thursday through Saturday, China's Ministry of Public Security said yesterday.

The drill will be conducted by law enforcement agencies and special services of the two countries, the ministry said.

It will be held in Almaty in Kazakhstan's east and in Yining, a western Chinese city in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The ministry refused to disclose the number of people participating or the specific operations involved.

The drill will be the first joint anti-terrorism exercise between the two countries within the SCO framework.

The ministry said the exercise was aimed at implementing a decision to enhance security cooperation reached by SCO member states at their June summit and to improve coordination between law enforcement departments and special services.

SCO members issued a communique in June at the Shanghai summit, saying that the fight against the "three evil forces" remains the organization's top priority.

They agreed to jointly combat the threats posed by terrorism, separatism and extremism as well as the rising tide of illegal drug trafficking.

China shares a 1,700-kilometer border with Kazakhstan, the longest after its boundary with Russia.

Feng Yujun of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations noted that the two countries settled their border disputes in 1999.

"It's of great political and strategic significance for them to have cross-border anti-terror cooperation," Feng said.

Established in June 2001, the SCO comprises China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Its member states account for a quarter of the world's population.

On the day the organization was founded, the presidents of the member countries signed a pact agreeing to fight terrorism, separatism and extremism.

In 2004, the Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure was set up in Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan, to coordinate the fight against "the three evil forces."

Since then, several anti-terror exercises have been held in SCO member states.

In October, 2002, China and Kyrgyzstan conducted a cross-border anti-terror military drill.

In August 2003, the armed forces of the SCO member states held a joint exercise against terrorism, the first multi-lateral military drill within the SCO framework.

In August 2005, China and Russia carried out joint war games.

And in 2007, the member states will stage another joint anti-terrorism military exercise in Russia.

SCO Secretary-General Zhang Deguang said maintaining regional security and stability and fighting terrorism, separatism and extremism were key to the cooperation among SCO members.

But he also stressed that security cooperation within the regional organization was "transparent."

"The SCO will not become a military alliance, nor will it be a closed political coalition," Zhang said.