The preparations for the African Lion 2021 military exercise, which will take place in Morocco next June, are still underway, the U.S. embassy in Morocco confirmed to Assahifa English.
The U.S. embassy said in a statement that U.S. military planners are working in close coordination with their partners in the FAR (the Moroccan Armed Forces) to determine the best locations for the African Lion 21 exercise.
The same source added this year’s military exercise “will include a humanitarian civilian assistance event”.
“We are looking forward to bringing back African Lion after a one-year hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said the Embassy in its statement, adding that “It is the largest military exercise involving U.S. forces in Africa, and it is a critical component of the close, strategic partnership between the United States and Morocco.”
Basing on this statement, it appears that the locations of this anticipated military event have not been fixed yet, unlike some media sources that pointed out to some locations close to Algerian borders, such as Mahbes.
The African Lion is the biggest annual military exercise being conducted in Africa; it is spearheaded by the US Africa Command’s (Africom) and hosted by the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces, with the participation of different worldwide partners.
According to Africom, the annual exercise activities are designed to enhance interoperability among partner nations against adversarial networks intent on destabilizing the region.
As a reminder, the African Lion military exercise in 2020 was reduced in scale due to COVID-19.
