Pakistani and US troops have undertaken a joint exercise in Cherat, south of the North West Frontier province's capital city of Peshwar, said a military pressrelease issued Saturday.

However, it did not mention the figure of the troops involved in the drills codenamed "Inspired venture/gambit-05."

General Ahsan Saleem Hyat, deputy chief of Army Staff, who witnessed the exercises, appreciated the professional standards and competence achieved by the participating troops and observed that such exercises were mutually beneficial for both armies, the release said.

Highlighting the friendly ties between the two countries and noting that this was the ninth of its kind since 1993, Ahsan said that with mutual consultations, similar exercises would be held inthe future as well, according to the release.

US Ambassador Ryan Crocker and some senior officers of both armies witnessed the conduct of the exercise.

Source: Xinhua