Morocco prepares for the 20th edition of African Lion
The twentieth edition of the 'African Lion' military manoeuvres is scheduled to begin at the end of May. These exercises are carried out by the Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Morocco in collaboration with their American counterparts, as well as with other armies from around twenty countries, including NATO members and African nations.
This year, the exercises will take place from 20 to 31 May in Benguérir, Agadir, Tan-Tan, Akka and Tifnit, as announced by the FAR General Staff in a press release.
Around 7,000 soldiers from different countries are expected to participate in African Lion 2024 in order to strengthen alliances and military cooperation, as well as to reinforce the fight against jihadism and criminal organisations operating in Africa, especially in the Maghreb and the Sahel. Other key points of these military exercises are the defence of peace, security and stability in the region.
According to the FAR press release, this year's exercises will include tactical, land, maritime, air, combined, day and night exercises. There will also be special forces activities, air operations and an operational planning exercise for the Chiefs of Staff.
An academic training cycle will also take place during this edition, organised as preparation for the exercise, training to combat weapons of mass destruction and civil-military actions.
In this regard, a range of medical, surgical and social services will be made available to the population of Akka through a military field hospital.
African Lion, the largest military exercise in Africa, continues to be an essential meeting point for the participating armies to exchange tactics and experiences, especially in the field of training and education through joint combined operations.
This twentieth edition of African Lion also demonstrates once again the strength of the cooperation between the Royal Armed Forces and the US Armed Forces, a close partnership that corresponds to the strong historical ties between the two countries, as underlined by the General Staff of the FAR.
Morocco and the participating nations have been preparing for African Lion 2024 for months. The first meeting of the year was held in January to plan the 20th edition.
During this meeting, the modalities and the various activities that will take place at the end of May were decided. Subsequently, at the beginning of March, the participating nations met again to finalise the details of the 20th edition.
All the meetings highlighted the strength of the relationship between the Moroccan and US armed forces.
Building on these strong and historic bilateral ties in various fields, and with the aim of strengthening its military capabilities, Morocco has fostered a partnership with the United States in this field.
This cooperation, as well as the delivery of US weaponry, is positioning the Kingdom as one of Africa's leading powers. In recent months, Morocco has received 200 launchers and 612 FGM-148F Javelin conventional missiles from the US for 260 million dollars.
In addition, at the end of last year, the Kingdom received its first shipment of US M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams battle tanks.
