Rabat – More than 2,000 soldiers representing 30 African and Western partner countries will participate in Exercise Flintlock 2019, the biggest integrated African-hosted military and law enforcement training in Africa and the US.
The exercise will take place in several locations in Burkina Faso and Mauritania.
Sixteen African countries will participate, including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Mali, and Mauritania. The US, Japan, and thirteen European countries will also join the exercises.
Flintlock has been “U.S. Africa Command’s premier and largest annual Special Operations Forces exercise,” since 2005, said the US military’s Africa Command.
It seeks to “strengthen the ability of key partner nations” in combating violent extremist organizations, protecting their borders, and providing security for their people.
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The exercise is also an opportunity for African and Western nations to collaborate on a multinational level for the shared goal of countering terrorism.
Morocco is resolute in its fight against terrorism. The 2018 Global Terrorism Index deemed the country safer than Algeria, the US, and France.
Morocco ranked the 132nd most dangerous country for terrorism out of 163, gaining nine places compared to the 2017 report when it ranked 123rd.
The report showcases that Morocco has two strategies to deal with foreign fighter returnees: Deradicalization programs and imprisonment.
The country founded a policy that allowed law enforcement to apprehend returnees for investigation and put them in custody in 2015.
