WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th March, 2020) Military officers from the United States, Morocco and Tunisia plan to modify the size and scope of the annual African Lion military exercise to keep service members from being infected with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a press release on Tuesday.
"The safety and protection of all of our forces - US and partner nations - is a priority. Modifying the exercise still improves readiness while minimizing risk to protect both US and partner forces," AFRICOM commander Stephen Townsend said in the release.
Scheduled to start on March 23, the Africa Lion exercise will now include only portions that do not require lodging of troops in close quarters.
Nearly 4,000 US service members will join about 5,000 troops from Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Spain, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands in AFRICOM's largest exercise to date, according to a Defense Department press release issued before Tuesday's modifications were announced.
