US AFRICOM Launches 12 Nation Military Exercise With Focus On Peacekeeping - Statement

Muhammad Irfan Published July 17, 2019 | 09:23 PM

An annual US Army-led Exercise Justified Accord 2019 (JA19) that focuses on peacekeeping operations in Somalia began with 12 nations participating, the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) announced in a press release on Wednesday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th July, 2019) An annual US Army-led Exercise Justified Accord 2019 (JA19) that focuses on peacekeeping operations in Somalia began with 12 nations participating, the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) announced in a press release on Wednesday.

"JA19 is an annual US Africa Command-directed, U.S. Army Africa-led exercise designed to enhance the capacity and capability of participating international staff and military forces in peacekeeping operations in support of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM)," the release stated.

Speakers at the event's opening ceremony in Ethiopia focused on how JA19 would help strengthen the alliance of the 12 participating nations which would allow their peacekeeping operations in Somalia to grow, the release said.

More than 1,000 military and government personnel from Brazil, Burundi, Canada, Djibouti, Ethiopia, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Somalia, Uganda, the United Kingdom and the United States are participating in the exercise this year, according to the release.

The exercise will include headquarters staff training, land force maneuvers and culminate with a platoon-level demonstration, the release said. There will also be a medical readiness exercise, in which medical military and civilian personnel from Ethiopia and the US Army will participate.

The United Nations, an AMISOM co-sponsor, ordered troop reductions in May amid reports that the al-Shabab terror group - linked to al Qaeda - (banned in Russia) was on the decline.

However, a series of attacks by al-Shabab in June and July renewed concerns over the terrorist group's control over large swaths of rural Somalia and its ability to hit major cities, according to published reports.