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The Directorate of Defence Communications (DDC) at the Ministry of Defence has announced the conclusion of the two-day joint maritime exercise 'Rapid Response', executed by Qatar Emiri Naval Forces (QENF) and its Turkish counterpart in the Qatari territorial waters.
"The Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF), Special Naval Force (SNF) of the Special Joint Forces and General Directorate of Coasts & Borders Security have also participated in the exercise," Director of Defence Communications Lt Col Nawaf bin Mubarak bin Saif al Thani said in an official statement on Monday.
Surface missile live fire was part of the maritime manoeuvres, in addition to the participation of the visiting Turkish TCG Gokova, one of Turkey's state-of-the-art naval vessels.
For his part, Naval formation commander Lt Col (Sea) Falah Mahdi al Ahbabi said,"The exercise comprised two phases. The first phase included joint maritime combat as well as anti-piracy and anti-terror manoeuvres, while the second session comprised joint manoeuvres in raiding and inspection of suspected ships as well as combat maritime manoeuvres."
The joint exercise between the Qatar Armed Forces and its Turkish counterpart comes in accordance with the pre-planned and signed agreements and in the framework of the bilateral defence cooperation agreements between the two countries to support counter-terrorism efforts, crackdown on cross-border smuggling and efforts to preserve security and stability of the region. (QNA)
