A news briefing was held Thursday by phone with Major General Andrew M. Rohling, U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa commander and U.S. Army Europe and Africa deputy commanding general, during which he discussed the Exercise African Lion 21 and the U.S. commitment to regional stability in North Africa.
The African Lion 21 exercise is the largest and most complex to date as 8,000 personnel from 8 different countries have participated directly in this exercise and another 15 observed the training with a potential to join the African Lion 22, Major General Andrew M. Rohling said.
“A multitude of training events across Tunisia and Morocco on the land, in the sea and in the air have been conducted over the past two weeks, building readiness and interoperability for the joint and multinational team,” the official indicated.
As for Tunisia’s participation in this training event, the official specified that Tunisia had chosen to be part of the African Lion 21 as it had participated in the past in multiple other African Lions.
“Tunisia remains a strong ally of the United States with a strong partnership; I visited Tunisia as part of the African Lion 21 and they are well tied into the exercise and well tied into trying to maintain stability and security for the African continent,” he answered a question of TAP.
“Tunisia is a great partner not just for the United States but also for all of the African continent and it has been and will be as we go into future African Lions,” he added.
African Lion is a joint, multi-national exercise in Tunisia, Morocco and Senegal linked to U.S. European Command’s DEFENDER series exercise to counter malign activity in North Africa and Southern Europe and increase interoperability with international partners.
It is a joint and combined exercise led by Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), sponsored by U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM), and conducted by U.S. Africa Command with allies and African partners in Tunisia, Morocco, Senegal and the surrounding seas from June -18, with a bid to strengthen U.S. and partner nations capability to promote regional stability and support interoperability.

Source: TAP News Agency