PHOTO ESSAY/Han Kuang, urban resilience drills on Wednesday

Taipei, July 16 (CNA) The streets of Kaohsiung were deserted as residents took cover during an air-raid alert on the second day of urban resilience exercises, which were held in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County on Wednesday and featured air-raid drills, evacuation exercises, and disaster response training.

After the siren sounds in Kaohsiung at 1:30 pm, citywide traffic controls and evacuation measures are implemented. The streets are cleared with residents directed to evacuation locations.

During the half-hour air-raid alert, all outdoor residents are required to go to the nearest building or shelter. Drivers must park their cars on the side of the road and do the same.

During the drills, buses must pull over to allow passengers to evacuate into buildings or shelters. Although metro trains continue operating, passengers in stations are required to follow police instructions to exit safely.

Part of the annual Han Kuang military drills, which entered its eighth day on Wednesday, ground force troops position an Avenger missile system battery in a park in New Taipei. 

According to the Ministry of National Defense, the 10-day, nine-night Han Kuang exercises running through July 18 are twice as long as previous live-fire drills, which typically lasted five days and four nights.

Since 1984, the annual Han Kuang exercises have served as Taiwan's major war games, combining live-fire drills and computerized tabletop simulations to test combat readiness against a possible Chinese invasion.

As part of the drill in Taoyuan, personnel from the Longtan Combined Maintenance Depot under the 3rd Regional Support Command lift the engine cover of a tank and replace a fan, completing repairs in about 30 minutes.

(By Wendy Lee)

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