Sahel countries, US, EU to participate in war games

Afrique en ligne - 14/04/2010
Sahel countries, US, EU to participate in war games
Wednesday 14 April 2010



Six Sahel-Saharan countries will take part in a three-week joint military exercise together with US and European troops to improve the cap a city of the Sahel countries to work together to stop illegal activities threaten i ng the sub-region’s stability and security.
The Malian private daily Le Républicain reported on Tuesday that 450 soldiers f rom Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Niger and Chad will take part in th e exercise from 2-23 May. The exercise will also involve 600 Americans and 150 Eu r opeans.
They will be based Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, while the military exercises will he held in Mauritania, Niger and Mali.
The operation dubbed "Flintlock 10" will have a multinational coordination centr e based in Ouagadougou to serve as the "focal point" for information dissemination and plan ning.
Participants will also undergo an academic exercise which will culminate in a pr actical exercise for the command post. This exercise will be under the Americans through the Special Operations Command in Africa.
Medical and veterinary action programmes will be carried out at the same time fo r the benefit of the rural communities.

Bamako - Pana 14/04/2010