US-Moroccan African Lion 2021 drills kick off in Agadir

At the high instructions of King Mohammed VI, Supreme Commander and Chief of General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces, the joint Moroccan-American African Lion 2021 drills kicked off this Monday in Agadir.

The military maneuvers will continue until Friday June 18, 2021 in the regions of Agadir, Tifnit, Tan Tan, Mehbes, Tafraout, Ben Guerir and Kenitra.

They involve thousands of multinational military and a very large number of land, air and sea equipment.

The multinational joint force, African Lion 2021, is part of the exercises conducted jointly by the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) and the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces. Its mission pursues the objective of cooperation and training, thus promoting the possibility of sharing knowledge and different experiences between the different military components, according to an official statement from the General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR).

This year marks the 17th edition of this exercise, which will include, in addition to the United States and Morocco, the participation of Great Britain, Brazil, Canada, Tunisia, Senegal, the Netherlands and Italy, as well as military observers from several African, European and American countries.

The numerous objectives of the maneuvers, considered among the major joint exercises in the world, include the strengthening of the maneuver capabilities of the participating units; consolidation of interoperability between participants in the planning and conduct of joint operations in a coalition framework; perfecting tactics, techniques and procedures; developing cyber defense skills; upgrading training in the air component in the conduct of hunting, support and air refueling operations; consolidating cooperation in the area of maritime security; conducting exercises at sea in the field of naval tactics and conventional warfare, in addition to carrying out humanitarian activities, the FAR statement points out.

It will include, in addition to training and simulations in command activities and training on operations to combat violent terrorist organizations, land, airborne, air, maritime and Nuclear, Radiological, Biological and Chemical decontamination exercises.

As part of parallel humanitarian activities, a field medico-surgical hospital will be deployed at Amlen (Tafraout) where medical and surgical services will be provided for the local populations of the region by medical teams made up of doctors and nurses from the FAR and the US Army.