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Rabat – Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces (FAR) announced the launch of African Lion 2023, a multinational military training operation co-organized by Morocco and US from June 5-16.
A ceremony took place today to announce the launch of the 19th edition of the annual military training.
During the ceremony, military representatives presented the theme as well as the different activities programmed as part of the military training, including maritime, air and combined military drills.
Combined exercises of special forces, airborne operations, as well as exercises to fight against weapons of mass destruction are also on the schedule.
In addition, the African Lion will include military field hospitals providing medical services for the benefit of people living in nearby areas of the training.
The military training will take place in seven regions across Morocco, including Agadir, Tan-Tan, Tiznit, Kenitra, Benguerir, Tifnit, and Mahbes in southern Morocco.
The 2022 annual training also included Mahbes, an inclusion that reflected the US’ position in supporting Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over its southern provinces in Western Sahara.
Prior to the exercise, military officials met several times in different host nations to plan the military drills.
In October 2022, Head of US Africa Command (AFRICOM) US Marine Corps General Michael Langley visited Morocco to express his satisfaction with the US-Morocco military cooperation.
Langley met with several senior military officials, including Morocco’s General Belkhir El Farouk, Inspector General of the Moroccan Armed Forces, and Abdellatif Loudiyi, Minister Delegate for the National Defense Administration.
Military cooperation between the US and Morocco is “built on deep, historic ties” that date back to the “very founding of the United States,” Langley said.
The military drills come following many hostile maneuvers and lobbying attempts against Morocco’s hosting rights of the African Lion.
In July, the now-retired Republican Senator James Inhofe said that he requested the search for alternative locations for the military exercise.
Inhofe is one of the most vocal pro-Polisario voices in Washington.
In response to the attempts, several military officials stressed the impossibility of replacing Morocco with a different host.
Former commander of US A AFICON US General Stephen J Townsend said that it will be difficult to find another host for the African Lion as fantastic as Morocco.
“They have a tremendous capacity to do it,” General Townsend said of Morocco, describing the country’s military capacity as “very high,” noting that the North African country also has the “infrastructure, the training rangers, all of that. They are fantastic hosts.”
