Hanoi (VNA) – The Military Medical Relay Race and Sniper Frontiercontests of the International Army Games 2021 started at National Military Training CentreNo 4 in Hanoi on August 31.

Lt. Gen Nguyen Van Nghia,Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army and head of the contestorganising board, said this is the first time Vietnam has hosted competitionsof the Army Games, which once again affirms the sound cooperation among themilitaries of Vietnam, Russia, and other countries.

The contests in Vietnam,slated for August 31 to September 3, sees the participation of Bangladesh, Belarus,Laos, Mali, Russia, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, and the host country.

The Army Games 2021, organised by Russia's Defence Ministry, is scheduled for August 22- September 4 with 34 contests and 260 teams from 45 countries. Competition eventsare held in 11 countries.

In Algeria, the “TrueFriend” contest of the Games wrapped up on August 30.

The teamsfrom Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and host Algeria competed in theindividual dog race, the 300m obstacle course with dogs, the dog relay race,the AK rifle team shooting, and the guard duty.

Among the three teams in the women’scategory, Uzbekistan ranked first, followed by Russia and Algeria.

In the men’s category, Uzbekistan and Russiaalso respectively secured the first and second places. Belarus, Algeria, andVietnam stood at the following positions.

Lt. Col. Hoang Ngoc Sang, head of theVietnamese team in Algeria, said having not gained high results, the team stillmade a great stride at this contest and outperformed itself compared to the2020 Games and its training results.

On August 28, Vietnam secured the secondplace among the five teams in the AK rifle team shooting event of the “TrueFriend” competition. Sub-lieutenant Trieu The Bo also ranked second in the AKrifle individual shooting.

This is also the fourth time Vietnam has taken part in thegames, competing in the largest number of contests so far./.