TALLINN, August 2, (RIA Novosti) - Erna Retk 2005, a military competition that is a symbolic tribute to the Estonians who fought with the Axis Powers during World War II, will be held in Estonia from August 2 until August 6.

According to the competition's organizers, 29 teams, 15 from Estonia and 14 from other countries, including the United States, China, Britain, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Finland, Belgium and Hungary, will participate in this year's military games.

Teams will have to negotiate various obstacles, including mine fields and rivers, and overcome the resistance of the "enemy" as represented by the Estonian military and border guards.

The Erna saboteur group, which consisted of 38 Estonian soldiers and four officers, was formed in Finland by German military intelligence. In 1941, the group infiltrated Soviet territory and operated in the Kolga Bay region in northern Estonia.

Saboteurs blew up the tracks on the Tallinn-Leningrad railroad. Two days later, the group was surrounded and eliminated in a swamp in northern Estonia.

Erna Retk 2005 is being held with the support of the Estonian Defense Ministry, the General Staff of the Estonian Defense Forces and a number of major Estonian companies.

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