“We are looking for other places to hold some or all of the next African Lion military exercises,” General Townsend said on 26 July.
Upon reaching the end of his mandate, the commander of US military activities in Africa (AFRICOM) announced that the African Lion military exercise would no longer be conducted in Morocco.
Since their creation in 2004, these manoeuvres have been held in cooperation with the Cherifian kingdom. But the Western Sahara issue has sown discord within the US legislative power. Congress has made the continuation of the African Lion in Morocco conditional on the conflict’s evolution.
The multilateral military exercise, whose 18th edition took place in June, is the largest organised by AFRICOM on the continent. Led by the US Department of Defence, it brings together African and non-African countries and international organisations.
The 2022 edition of the African
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