ANKARA, March 25: The Turkish military says dozens of infantry troops from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey have conducted a joint exercise to improve warfare tactics in residential areas. Turkey, Nato’s sole Muslim member, has been training Afghan security forces in Turkey and in Kabul.Staff Col Burhan Hasirci told the Anatolia news agency that the drill on Friday at an infantry school in Tuzla, on the outskirts of Istanbul, wasdesigned to improve “coordination between forces of the three countries”.

Turkey has trained thousands of troops in Afghanistan since 2001. Several hundred Afghans have attended Turkish war colleges or anti-terrorism courses.—AP