Nearly 1,300 commandos, soldiers and police officers participated in a large scale anti-terrorist drill in the northern province of Vinh Phuc on Monday.

The military exercise, aimed at rehearsing anti-terrorist combat, hostage rescue and subduing protests and riots, was a joint operation carried out by the High Command of Commandos, the High Command of Communications, the provincial Military Command, and mobile police units.

The two-hour exercise, led by Lieutenant-General Pham Hong, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, also featured a martial arts demonstration by the commandos.

The drill was carried out based on a scenario whereby residents in some nearby localities were incited to stage protests to complain about land and violations of democracy, human rights and freedom of religion.

The protests were spread to multiple provinces and eventually turned violent.

In the end, riots broke out and the opposition force managed to take over several local administration buildings and held state officials hostage.

The State President was therefore forced to declare a state of national defense emergency in some provinces, including Province X.

At 8:00 am, the opposition force launched a terrorist attack in Province X, took several local leaders hostage and demanded money and two vehicles to take them to the airport to board an outbound flight.

The terrorists also took over the province’s sports house, where an international volleyball tournament was taking place.

The Ministry of National Defense, as ordered by the Prime Minister, then tasked the Commando Brigade 113 with engaging the terrorists, rescuing the hostages at the sports house, as well as stopping the protests and riots.

The commandos were supported by hundreds of local soldiers and mobile police, who besieged the sporting venue, while snipers of the Commando Brigade 113 were dispatched to the roofs of nearby houses.

The police force also had to fight against hundreds of rioters, who attacked them with objects and smoke bombs outside the sports house.

A group of terrorists, including their leader, left the sports house with some important hostages and were attempting to flee on two vehicles, but were stopped and killed by the commandos.

In the meantime, a group of commandos and chemical soldiers detected a time bomb placed in Stand A inside the sporting house but did not have enough time to defuse it.

Their commander then asked them to evacuate, leaving the bomb to explode and destroy part of the venue.

A firefighting team was immediately dispatched to fix the situation.

The drill ended at 4:00 pm with all tasks successfully fulfilled.

“Even though the exercise took place for a short time in an unfamiliar field, all of the involved forces cooperated with each other very well," said Major General Do Thanh Binh, commander of the Vietnam People's Army’s Commandos.

Here is the martial arts demonstration by the commandos:

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