The armies of Morocco and of USA military maneuvers are held from today, Monday, until June 30 African Lion 22the majors of the continent, with exercises in different parts of the country and near Western Sahara. About 7,500 troops from Morocco, the US and various allied countries will participate in these exercises, which will also take place in part in Tunisia, Senegal Y Ghanaand in which Spain will not participate.
In Moroccothe exercises will be carried out in the training areas in Kenitra (north) and in the south of the country in agadir, So so, taroudant and in Greir Labouhi -a town located above the border with Western Sahara- where these maneuvers are organized for the second consecutive year.
The choice of training areas raised a lot of expectations in the previous edition of the African Lion 21 by the uncertainty until the last moment about whether they would include for the first time the saharan territorysince those maneuvers took place a few months after the announcement, in December 2020, of the then US President Donald Trumpof recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the former Spanish colony.
The US Army then announced that the exercises would take place in Greir Labouhi, located about fifty kilometers west of the Tindouf camps (in algerian territory) controlled by the Polisario Front.
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The US Armed Forces Central Command for Africa (AFRICOM) explained that the current edition of the African Lion22 It will include inter-army maneuvers in different land, air, and maritime operational areas, together with other operations to decontaminate nuclear, radiological, biological, and chemical risks.
The maneuvers african lion constitute, according to experts, a show of force of military cooperation between the United States and Moroccoa country that in recent years approved a roadmap to modernize its Army equipment, with France and the United States as the main suppliers.