The annual “Flintlock” military exercise, aimed at strengthening the operational capacities of African armies in the fight against jihadists, ended on Tuesday March 14 after two weeks of training in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Organized since 2005 by the United States Africa Command (Africom), “Flintlock” focuses in particular on the training of allied troops, particularly in the Sahel, undermined by jihadist violence for more than ten years.
“The United States strongly supports the efforts of Cote d’Ivoire and all of Africa” ??in this security challenge, U.S. Ambassador to Cote d’Ivoire Jessica Davis Ba said during a briefing. speech at the International Counter-Terrorism Academy (AILCT), in Jacqueville, 70 km west of Abidjan. In all, 1,300 soldiers from 29 countries met this year, 900 in Ghana and 400 in Côte d’Ivoire.
On Tuesday, on a huge AILCT site, a small group of men equipped with fake weapons, for example, landed on a pick-up before entering a building supposed to represent a hotel. Soldiers and gendarmes then burst in to capture the attackers after exchanges of fire. The Ivorian Chief of Staff, Lassina Doumbia, who attended these exercises, praised “the determination and rigor” of the 165 soldiers trained during this edition.
kidnapped politician
“We learned a lot. This puts us in the field and we have been trained to gather data from a crime scene before it is compromised. We need more training like this,” said a Ghanaian police official, Fred Asante, at the Daboya military base in northern Ghana, where other drills have taken place. “It’s a great exercise for us to keep learning new things,” Ghanaian commander Seth Dzakpasu said after a fake rescue of a kidnapped politician.
Thirteen other African countries participated in this edition: South Africa, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Chad, Togo and Tunisia. Several European countries were also present, including France and Germany. The subject of the fight against jihadists will be addressed by the American Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, who is visiting Niger on Thursday and Friday.
