US-led War Games Underway in Morocco

US M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers fire salvoes during the "African Lion" military exercises in the Grier Labouihi region in southeastern Morocco on June 9, 2021 - AFP
US M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers fire salvoes during the "African Lion" military exercises in the Grier Labouihi region in southeastern Morocco on June 9, 2021 - AFP
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US-led War Games Underway in Morocco

US M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers fire salvoes during the "African Lion" military exercises in the Grier Labouihi region in southeastern Morocco on June 9, 2021 - AFP
US M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers fire salvoes during the "African Lion" military exercises in the Grier Labouihi region in southeastern Morocco on June 9, 2021 - AFP

US-led forces are carrying out war games near the disputed region of Western Sahara, in exercises jointly organized with Morocco.

More than 7,000 personnel from nine countries and NATO are taking part in the exercises codenamed "African Lion", which kicked off on June 8, according to US Africa Command (Africom).

The manoeuvres, due to conclude on Friday, have seen rockets fired near Western Sahara, navy boats patrol off the coast of Spain's Canary Islands and air forces conduct training exercises, according to AFP.

"African Lion is US Africa Command's largest exercise," Africom said on its website, adding "the training is focused on enhancing readiness for US and partner nation forces."

Moroccan Prime Minister Saad-Eddine El Othmani said in a tweet ahead of the exercises that the event "marks the consecration of American recognition of the Moroccan Sahara".

"Exercise locations are spread mainly across Morocco, from Kenitra Air Base in the north to Tan Tan and Guerir Labouhi training complex in the south," Africom said in a statement.

In the past days, AFP correspondents have seen exercises, including parachute jump training and rocket fire, taking place in the desert on the edges of Western Sahara.

The manoeuvres were staged some 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Algerian desert town of Tindouf, where the separatist Polisario Front has a base.

Morocco laid claim to Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony with rich phosphate resources and offshore fisheries, after Spain withdrew in 1975.

The Polisario Front took up arms to demand independence, proclaiming the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) in 1976 and fighting a 16-year war with Morocco.

Morocco now controls 80 percent of the territory, while the rest is held by the Polisario Front.

Rabat has offered Western Sahara autonomy, but maintains that the territory is a sovereign part of the kingdom.

Former US president Donald Trump recognized Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara last year after Rabat normalized ties with Israel, sparking an angry response from the Polisario.

Morocco's armed forces, which usually keep a low profile, have praised the "perfect conditions" under which the joint exercises are taking place.

And in recent days pictures, videos and statements have been posted on the unofficial Facebook page of the Far-Maroc (armed forces) of the military games.

In one video, US Major General Michael J. Turley is heard saying that Morocco has "one of the most modern armies and air forces and navies within the world."

Countries taking part in the exercises include Tunisia and Senegal, as well as Britain and Italy.



Israeli Military Sets up Roadblocks in Southern Lebanon, Announces It Won’t Withdraw by Deadline

 This picture taken from Lebanon's southern village of Shaqra on January 25, 2025 shows an Israeli army Merkava main battle tank moving along a road at the entrance of the village of Houla along the border with Israel in south Lebanon. (AFP)
This picture taken from Lebanon's southern village of Shaqra on January 25, 2025 shows an Israeli army Merkava main battle tank moving along a road at the entrance of the village of Houla along the border with Israel in south Lebanon. (AFP)
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Israeli Military Sets up Roadblocks in Southern Lebanon, Announces It Won’t Withdraw by Deadline

 This picture taken from Lebanon's southern village of Shaqra on January 25, 2025 shows an Israeli army Merkava main battle tank moving along a road at the entrance of the village of Houla along the border with Israel in south Lebanon. (AFP)
This picture taken from Lebanon's southern village of Shaqra on January 25, 2025 shows an Israeli army Merkava main battle tank moving along a road at the entrance of the village of Houla along the border with Israel in south Lebanon. (AFP)

Israel's military Saturday set up roadblocks across border towns and roads in a strategic valley in southern Lebanon, a day before the deadline for it to withdraw from the area under an agreement that halted its war with the Hezbollah group.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, confirmed that it will not complete its withdrawal from southern Lebanon by Sunday as outlined in the ceasefire agreement.

The deal that went into effect in late November gave both sides 60 days to remove their forces from southern Lebanon and for the Lebanese army to move in and secure the area, along with UN peacekeepers. Israel says Hezbollah and the Lebanese army haven’t met their obligations, while Lebanon accuses the Israeli army of hindering the Lebanese military from taking over.

In a statement Saturday, the Israeli military said the agreement is progressing. But it said in some sectors, “it has been delayed and will take slightly longer.”

The Lebanese military has said that they had deployed in areas following Israeli troops’ withdrawal, and in a statement Saturday accused the Israeli military of “procrastinating” in their withdrawal from other areas.

Washington appears to support an extension of this withdrawal phase.

While Lebanese army soldiers are dispersed across the south’s western sector, Israeli troops remained in control of most of the southeastern sector.

Members of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said Israeli tanks and bulldozers have unexpectedly moved and set up several roadblocks, apparently in an attempt to prevent displaced Lebanese people trying to return to their villages.

In Mais al-Jabal, peacekeepers from a Nepalese battalion watched in their position along the UN-mandated Blue Line as an Israeli jet flew overhead following the sound of what they said was an Israeli controlled demolition of a building.

There are no residents left in that town and the vast majority of the buildings seen by Associated Press journalists were reduced to rubble or pancaked after intense Israeli shelling and airstrikes, following by clashes during its ground invasion. The few that stood had their walls blown out and are badly damaged. The piles of rubble and debris on the road make it impossible for civilian cars to enter the town that once was home to a few thousand people.

The scene is similar in neighboring towns, including Blida and Aitaroun, where almost all the structures have collapsed into mounds of rubble and no residents have returned.

The peacekeepers tried to appeal for permission to move across the roadblocks, but were not authorized to do so. An AP crew that had joined UNIFIL on patrol was stranded as a result.

“There is still a lot of IDF (Israeli army) activity going on in the area,” said Maj. Dinesh Bhandari of UNIFIL’s Nepalese battalion in Mays al-Jabal overlooking the Blue Line. “We are waiting for the deconfliction and then we will support to deploy the LAF (Lebanese army) in that position.”

When asked about weapons belonging to Hezbollah, Bhandari said they had found caches of weapons, munitions and mines in some structures during their patrols.

Israel says it has been taking down the remaining infrastructure left by the Hezbollah, which has a strong military and political presence in the south. Israel since its ground incursion into Lebanon said it also targeted a tunnel network, and has conducted large-scale demolition of buildings in a handful of border towns.

Lebanese officials have complained that the Israeli military is also destroying civilian homes and infrastructure.

In a call with French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun pointed to the “destruction of villages adjacent to the southern border and the bulldozing of lands, which will hinder the return of residents to their areas,” according to the state-run National News Agency. France, along with the US, is a guarantor of the ceasefire deal.

Some 112,000 Lebanese remain displaced, out of over 1 million displaced during the war. Large swaths of southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as Beirut’s southern suburbs were destroyed in Israeli bombardments.