US and African Forces to Hold Massive ’African Lion 21’ Military Exercise in Sahara

In total, 740 Georgia National Guard soldiers out of a total of about 4,000 U.S. military personnel and 5,000 members of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces, Tunisian and Senegalese armed forces, as well as military personnel from Italy, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands will participate in the African Lion 21 exercise, reports the American site Alive. This year’s edition will be marked by various exercises:

• Operation of a tactical command post,
• Conduct of situational training exercises,
• Conduct of field training and indirect fire exercises
• Combined and joint live-fire exercise.

In a press release, the Georgia National Guard states that African Lion offers the opportunity to improve interoperability and cooperation while attesting to the strong military link between the participating nations. "It is designed to provide training to U.S., Moroccan, Tunisian, Senegalese and other partner forces based in the region while building on lessons learned from previous African Lion exercises, and provides a foundation and framework for future military cooperation and engagements," it specified.

For the smooth running of this exercise in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Georgia National Guard assures that it has taken all security measures. Not to mention the health measures (testing and quarantine before travel). The 2020 edition had been canceled due to the coronavirus.