Multinational military exercise kicks off in Morocco

International military regiments from Morocco, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Tunisia, Mauritania and Senegal began Monday the first phase of Exercises for African Lion 2015, in the southern town of Agadir in Morocco, according to a press release from the U.S. embassy in Rabat.

The largest annual U.S. military exercise in Africa began with an intelligence-capacity-building workshop in the first week of February, added the release.

In the following week, the international coalition will launch a Combined Joint Task Force and plan for simulated international crises. This is in preparation for the second phase, also the main phase, of the exercise scheduled to take place in May.

According to the release, the exercises are conducted in accordance with UN-mandated peace operation standards. Each event is designed to bolster cooperation and operational proficiency between the nations in the event of future crises and regional contingency responses.

The second phase of the exercises involves approximately 2,500 individuals from different countries and will also include forces from the Netherlands and Belgium. It will enact scenarios which focus on humanitarian aid, disaster relief, stability operations, command and control, and maritime prepositioning integration.

The 2015 military exercise also incorporates the Moroccan and U.S. Air Force F-16 exercise, formerly known as Majestic Eagle, which will take place simultaneously with the second phase of African Lion, and focus on in-flight refueling and close air support training missions. Endit