African Lion Military Exercises Kick off in Morocco

The annual "African Lion" military exercises between the US and Morocco began on Monday. The military exercises will take place in Kenitra, Agadir, Tan Tan, Taroudant, and Mahbes from June 20 to 30.

The drills come after the academic training course for this year's African Lion exercises came to a close. Within the scope of the overall plan for collaboration, the course was focussed on the benefit of members of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces and other participants.

The US and Moroccan armed forces are participating in the exercises for the 18th time. Training on the method of cooperative operational planning was conducted during the academic term.

Legal aspects, public communication, medical planning, and cyber security coordination were all put to the test. Military trainers from Morocco's Royal Armed Forces, the United States, and other partner countries participated in the academic course, which ran from June 6 to 17.

The course focused on improving force interoperability and exchanging skills and experience in a variety of sectors.

Representatives from 18 partner countries, as well as military observers from around thirty countries across the world, will take part in the African Lion 2022 exercises.

The Mahbes region near Ed-Dahle, the region's major city, was included in the African Lion 2021 exercises, which were held after the United States declared Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara. Some of the exercises will take place for the second time this year in the Western Sahara region.

The joint exercises, which were initially undertaken in 2007 between the Moroccan and US forces, have now become a tradition with the involvement of numerous European and African countries.