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KIGALI, March 25 (Xinhua) -- About 200 military officers from 13 African countries are meeting in Rwanda for joint military drills.
The training which opened on Saturday at Rwanda Military Academy-Gako, in eastern Rwanda drew participants from Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Egypt, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
The third Command Post Exercise dubbed "Utulivau Africa III", will run from March 20-31.
It is conducted under the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises (ACIRC).
The ACIRC is a strategic security partnership between the African Union and Volunteering Nations to enable the AU to intervene on short notice in a crisis that may pop up on the African Continent.
The partnership was put in place in 2013 to serve as an interim mechanism until the African Standby Force becomes fully operational.
Opening the training, Major Gen. Jacques Musemakweli, the Army Chief of Staff of the Rwanda Defense Force, explained that the exercise is geared at preparing participants for future interventions.
"Ultimately, the success of this exercise will go a long way to guarantee attainment of our leaders' aspirations of finding African solutions to African problems," he said.
Bam Sivuyiye, the head of peace support operation division at the African Union Commission said the force should be ready to deploy when called upon.
To date, the East African Standby force is the only regional combined army that has pledged readiness to intervene. Enditem
