Listen to the news

More than four thousand soldiers from twelve countries will take part in the annual military exercises between Indonesia and the United States, Indonesian officials said.

The exercises will take place next month against the background of smoldering tensions in the South China Sea, the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported, quoted by BTA.

The military exercises, named "Garuda Super Shield", will be held on the two largest Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan from August 1 to 14.

Australia, Japan, South Korea and Great Britain will take part in them, and among the planned activities are land maneuvers and sea landings.

For the annual exercises, which date back to 2009, Indonesia will send 2,000 soldiers, who will be joined by 1,100 US military personnel, Indonesian army chief General Andika Perkasa told reporters yesterday.

Unlike the previous editions of these exercises, in which only ground troops participated, this year all types of military formations - air, naval and special forces - will participate.

NATO military exercises will take place in Turkey

"Our goal is to improve our capabilities to deal with various challenges related to security, natural disasters and humanitarian missions," said Gen.

Andika during a joint press conference with General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces.

For his part, Gen.

Milli added that "this will be a very important military exercise, one of the largest we have done so far".

China claims much of the South China Sea and has military posts in areas that are also disputed by other neighboring countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam.

Indonesia considers the southern tip of the South China Sea as its territorial waters, while Beijing has repeatedly called on the country to stop extracting oil and natural gas there.

military exercises

Indonesia