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DHAKA, June 26 (AFP) - Bangladesh and the United States will co-host military exercises in September that will include the participation of 22 countries, a defence spokesman said Wednesday.

The 19-day exercise, to be jointly organised and sponsored by the Bangladesh army and US Asia-Pacific Command, will start on September 8, spokesman Major Nazrul Islam told AFP.

He said the exercise, named the Multinational Platoon Training Event, was designed to assess and improve the abilities of the participating countries in peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance.

"It would also study the forces' inter-operationability with other international military forces," Islam said.

Six countries will be active participants in the exercises: Bagladesh, India, Mongolia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the United States.

Another 16 nations will be observers, including Australia, Britain, France and Japan.

A four-day planning meeting for the exercises took place earlier this month in Dhaka.

Bangladesh has participated in 26 peacekeeping missions in 25 countries and has more troops in UN missions than any other country, according to the world body.

Bangladesh, the third largest Muslim-majority country, has pledged support for the US-led "war on terrorism." 

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