Jakarta – Around 700 soldiers from the Indonesian and US armed forces will take part in the "Garuda Shield" training, an annual 12-day peacekeeping training camp, starting June 1 this year.

"This year, the training will be held at the headquarters of the Army Engineering Education Center in Bogor," Col. Dedy Agus Purwanto, the head of the general information subdivision at the Army Information Office, said on Thursday.

Around 400 national army personnel, consisting of soldiers from the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) and the Army Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad), are expected to take part in the training, which will be divided into two activities: post training exercises and field training exercises. The training will include urban warfare simulations and civil service missions, Dedy said.

"We will also conduct civil service projects in the surrounding communities," he added, citing construction work as an example. Dedy said he hoped the joint training would strengthen the cooperative relationship between the two nations.