Chinese Soldiers Practiced Taking Out Enemy Bunkers In Tibet Drill

Soliders of the Chinese Peoples' Liberation Army (PLA) practiced how to attack enemy bunkers and border posts in live-fire drills held last.

Various international media inferred that the drill was aimed at simulating an attack against India following its border standoff in the Tibetan plateau last week.

Videos published by PLA showed soldiers used flamethrowers, rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns to strike bunkers while various types of heavy weapons were employed in the exercise, including mortars, self-propelled howitzers, multiple rocket launchers and anti-tank missiles.

The report said the brigade has new types of weapons after a structural reform this year, improving its combat capability so that it is stronger than before. Photos in the report showed Type-96 main battle tanks appeared in the exercise and fired on targets. 

The exercise was conducted by a ground combat brigade of the PLA Tibet Regional Command this month and involved scenarios such as rapid deployment, multi-unit joint strike and anti-aircraft defence, state-run China Daily quoted a PLA press release as saying. 

The exercise effectively tested the brigade's joint strike capability on plateaus, according to the press release. 

"The PLA wanted to demonstrate it could easily overpower its Indian counterparts," South China Morning Post quoted Beijing-based military commentator Zhou Chenming as saying. 

The Chinese force that took part in the drill is stationed in the Lizhi region of eastern Tibet, close to the stand-off, the Post said. 

India has nearly two lakh troops stationed in the areas it disputes with China, outnumbering its neighbour's forces by as much as 15 or 20 to one, it said. 

Nonetheless, China has a clear advantage in terms of speed of movement, firepower, and logistics, Zhou said. 

"A small-scale drill, China wants to control the problem and lower the risk of shots being fired," he said.