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Join on Telegram Rabat – US Army Southern European Task Force in Africa (SETAF-AF) has confirmed that Morocco will be one of the hosting countries of the 2023 African Lion, the largest military exercise on the continent.
The army’s website confirmed on October 17 that the African Lion is scheduled to run from May 15 and July 18 in Morocco, Djibouti, Ghana, Senegal, and Tunisia.
“The annual exercise provides unmatched opportunities for participation and cooperation on the African continent. While Morocco anchors the exercise, the other nations, known as spokes, continue to increase their size and contribution to the overall exercise,” the military website added.
Prior to the exercise, military officials will meet several times in different host nations to plan next year’s military drills.
SETAF-AF African Lion branch chief Lieutenant Col. Paul Hilsaki said that the planning and coordination with joint forces from the US and partner nations is a “long-term project spread over the entire year to ensure that when the exercise starts African Lion is a well-coordinated, masterfully executed event.”
The confirmation from SETAF-AF shatters lobbying attempts from US Republican Senator James Inhofe.
The Polisario supporter has been attempting to convince the US Administration to look for an alternative location to host the African Lion military exercise.
“I have pushed [the Pentagon] to look at alternative locations for the annual African Lion military exercise that’s been hosted in Morocco previously,” the news website Defense News recently quoted Inhofe as saying at a senate confirmation hearing in July.
Despite the lobbying attempts, an authorized source who spoke to MWN on condition of anonymity confirmed that the military exercise will take place in Morocco.
The decision was announced during the visit of the Head of US Africa Command (AFRICOM), US Marine Corps General Michael Langley to Morocco.
Langley visited Morocco from October 17-18, when he met with senior officials. The visit marked his first trip to the North African country in his capacity as US AFRICOM commander.
Langley expressed satisfaction with the cooperation between Morocco and the US, describing it as “stronger than ever.”
Morocco has been hosting the African military training exercise for 18 years.
Former AFRICOM commander US General Stephen Townsend emphasized recently the difficulty of finding an alternative host for the exercise as “fantastic” as Morocco.
“They have a tremendous capacity to do it,” Townsend said, recalling Morocco’s infrastructure, including training ranges.
