Africom Commander General Stephen J. Townsend said on Tuesday that It would be difficult to find any country in Africa to host the African Lion military exercises as Morocco did during the last 18 years.
According to the official website of the U.S. Department of States, Townsend was answering journalist questions in a Telephonic press briefing on the occasion of departing his position as Commander, U.S Africa Command (U.S AFRICOM) after 3 years in this mission.
During the press briefing, Townsend was asked about some media reports which have recently reported that the Defense Department is looking at alternative locations for the African Lion exercise, and how would this affect the relationship with Morocco.
The General confirmed what reports have said adding that “Our U.S. law – our Congress passed our defense law for Fiscal Year ’22 that requires us to look at diversifying the exercise, and by diversifying the exercise, looking at maybe moving the exercise or elements of the exercise to other areas on the continent.”
“But here are the facts: Morocco has been our host for 18 African Lions, and they have a tremendous capacity to do it; their military capacity is very high; they also have the infrastructure, the training ranges, all of that. They are a fantastic host,” General Townsend stressed.
The General added in this context that “We will send teams out to make these assessments and surveys, and happy to diversify the exercise. It will be difficult to find any country in Africa, I think, that can probably approach what Morocco has been able to do over 18 years. That will be hard to find someone who can do that, certainly on year one.”
