Units from the Royal Armed Forces (FAR) and American forces took part in major air and ground military maneuvers, on Friday at Cap Draa (north of Tan-Tan), at the end of the "African Lion 2023" exercise.
Major General Mohammed Berrid, Inspector General of FAR and Commander of the South Zone, and Army General Michael Langley, Commander of the US Africa Command "AFRICOM", attended the maneuvers.
Military units from both countries carried out maneuvers with F16 aircraft and B1B bombers. Ground operations were also carried out, using Abrams tanks to fire artillery against minefields.
Army General Michael Langley expressed his gratitude to Morocco, "host country and long-standing partner", and to the US Army Southern European Task Force, Africa "for running this event and this display of professionalism".
Langley added that participation in the African Lion Exercise is therefore important for Africa.
“It is a pinnacle exercise that sets the stage of our approach of building stability and partnerships across the continent of Africa,” he said, adding that it's about ensuring that “our African partners could institutionalize their forces, increase interoperability”.
He noted that Morocco and the US have developed a capacity for partnership throughout history.
"Since our independence, Morocco has been a partner of choice for the United States", Langley said.
For his part, Youssef Guertoumi, Commander of the Draa military sector, expressed his sincere thanks to the partners of AFRICOM, the US Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) and the UTAH National Guard, "for their constant support and assistance, which had led to the success of this exercise and which showcases once again the core values that we share to promote peace and security around the four corners of the globe, and particularly on our African continent".
Spencer Cox, Governor of the State of Utah, pointed out that “this partnership has been going on for 20 years. We started just before African Lion.”
Cox added that “it was Utah and Morocco that started this training exercise together that has now become this incredible multinational operation.”
The exercise, which began on June 5 in several regions of the Kingdom, saw the participation of 6,000 military personnel representing 14 international and African countries including Morocco and the US, in addition to military observers from eight countries.
The exercise aims to develop interoperability, enhance intervention capabilities within a multinational framework, strengthen the capabilities of the participating armies, coordinate to face all security challenges and reinforce military cooperation to ensure regional security and stability.
