In one of Switzerland's largest military exercises in more than three decades, soldiers rehearsed repelling a fictional enemy, tossed grenades and fired live munitions as they showcased the self-defence capabilities that define their 'armed neutrality'.
LES PRADIERES, Switzerland, May 9 - In one of Switzerland's largest military exercises in more than three decades, soldiers rehearsed repelling a fictional enemy, tossed grenades and fired live munitions as they showcased the self-defence capabilities that define their "armed neutrality".
At the Les Pradieres shooting range last Thursday, a group of infantry soldiers - most of whom are civilians taking part in their regular military service - slowly paced up a hill, using a smoke grenade to conceal their movements before crouching down to shoot at targets. "The willingness of our partners and the understanding of the population regarding this kind of drill that has greatly changed," Mathias Tuscher, commander of Switzerland's Territorial Division 1.Public and international pressure have grown for Switzerland to end a ban on exports of weapons to war zones, but some political factions fear this would mark the end of its foreign policy tradition of neutrality.
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