US military works to deepen partnerships in African Lion exercise

TAN TAN, Morocco — High-ranking military officials from the U.S. and its top African allies watched intently as dust and flames shot up from pieces of the Sahara Desert hit by tank and artillery fire. They looked up as pilots flew F-16s into formation. And they listened intently as Moroccan and American personnel explained how they would set up beachheads to defend the Atlantic coastline in the event of a potential invasion.

The practice scenario was among those discussed during African Lion, the United States’ largest annual joint military exercise on the continent, which concluded Friday in Morocco.

Over the past two weeks, roughly 8,100 military forces from nearly three dozen countries maneuvered throughout Tunisia, Ghana, Senegal and Morocco as part of the war games held this year as militaries confront new challenges in increasingly volatile regions.

Generals from the United States and Morocco, which hosted the finale of the two-week event, celebrated African Lion’s 20-year anniversary and how partnerships between the U.S. and African militaries have expanded since it began.

“This exercise has grown over the years since 2004, not only have the number of multinational service members that we train with, but also the scope of the training as well, which has expanded to more than just security,” said Gen. Michael Langley, the head of the United States’ Africa Command.

But despite the spectacle of live-fire demonstrations and laudatory remarks about partnerships by Langley and Col. Maj. Fouad Gourani of Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces, parts of Africa are getting much more dangerous.

The United Nations earlier this year called Africa a “global epicenter for terrorism.” Fatalities linked to extremist groups have risen dramatically in the Sahel, the region that stretches from Mauritania to Chad.

Since 2020, military officers disillusioned with their governments’ records of stemming violence have overthrown democratically elected governments in Mali , Burkina Faso and Niger and began distancing themselves from Western powers.

From 2021 to 2024, militants killed more than 17,000 people across the three countries, according to data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

The United States is holding steadfast to its strategy of coupling weapons assistance and intelligence sharing with initiatives designed to boost civilian populations and strengthen institutions.

But it faces new competition. Decades after the end of colonialism, Africa has once again become absorbed in fighting among Great Powers, with Western influence waning and countries accepting more economic and military support from Chinese firms and Russian contractors.

At African Lion, the U.S. military showcased part of what it offers countries facing instability inside and just beyond their borders. Besides tanks and bombers, the joint exercises included operations and practice in field hospitals, medical evacuations and humanitarian assistance.

The exercise emphasized a “whole of government” approach to addressing the root causes of instability, ranging from climate change to displacement, rather than solely focusing on military might.

“It’s important that we not only be associated with kicking down doors,” said Col. Kelley Togiola, a command surgeon who helped set up a field hospital alongside Moroccan doctors as part of the exercise. “In times of crises, those relationships matter.”

That strategy differs from what’s being offered by Africa Corps, the descendent of the Russian state-funded private military company Wagner , whose leader Yevgeny Prigozhin died last year. Yet it’s come under scrutiny since military officers with a history of participating in training exercises have risen to positions of power after the ousters of democratically elected leaders in countries such as Guinea and Niger .

Cameron Hudson, an Africa expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said regardless of how much the U.S. military broadens its efforts, its continued focus on counterterrorism will keep empowering military leaders throughout West Africa.

“The nature of security assistance is that it’s much more visible, impactful and manipulated by the recipient for ill,” Hudson said. “When we come in with training and toys, we reinforce within societies these power dynamics that in the long run are not helpful to the consolidation of civilian democratic rule.”

Despite training exercises like African Lion, U.S. military leaders face difficulties prolonging their partnerships in places they’ve long characterized as strategically critical. Countries such as Niger and Chad — which participated in African Lion — have embraced Russian trainers and paramilitaries and pushed for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

The U.S. military officials note their assessment of the threat of “malign” Russian and Chinese influence but say they can work in countries that accept assistance from geopolitical rivals.

To juggle curbing Russian influence while opposing the overthrow of democratically elected leaders hasn’t worked everywhere, especially as the U.S. military often attaches strings to how countries can implement training and weapons provided.

U.S. law makes governments deposed in military coups ineligible for large portions of assistance, despite the military’s talk of equal partnership and noninterference.

Rachid El Houdaigui, a senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, said the growing youth populations in west African countries wanted to forge new political identities and were skeptical of the West after years of insecurity.

“African states consider variety favorable. It allows them to choose and gives them many possibilities,” he said of countries in the Sahel that have opened their doors to Russian and Chinese assistance.

Associated Press writer Arushi Gupta contributed from Los Angeles.

摩洛哥坦坦——美国及其主要非洲盟友的高级军事官员们目不转睛地注视着撒哈拉沙漠被坦克和大炮击中后扬起的尘土和火焰。他们抬头看着飞行员驾驶F-16战斗机编队飞行。他们还认真聆听摩洛哥和美国人员讲解，一旦发生入侵，他们将如何建立滩头阵地来保卫大西洋沿岸。

该演习场景是美国在非洲大陆举行的年度最大规模联合军事演习“非洲雄狮”期间讨论的议题之一，该演习于上周五在摩洛哥结束。

在过去两周里，来自近30个国家的约8100名军人在突尼斯、加纳、塞内加尔和摩洛哥进行了演习，这是今年举行的军事演习的一部分，各国军队在日益动荡的地区面临着新的挑战。

来自美国和摩洛哥（为期两周的活动的闭幕式举办地）的将军们庆祝了“非洲雄狮”演习20周年，并回顾了自该演习开始以来美国和非洲军队之间的伙伴关系是如何不断扩大的。

“自 2004 年以来，这项演习的规模逐年扩大，不仅参与训练的多国部队人员数量增加，而且训练范围也扩大了，不再局限于安全领域，”美国非洲司令部司令迈克尔·兰利将军说。

尽管兰利和摩洛哥皇家武装部队上校福阿德·古拉尼进行了实弹演示，并对合作关系发表了赞扬性言论，但非洲部分地区正变得越来越危险。

联合国今年早些时候称非洲是“全球恐怖主义中心”。在从毛里塔尼亚延伸到乍得的萨赫勒地区，与极端组织有关的死亡人数急剧上升。

自 2020 年以来，对政府遏制暴力记录感到失望的军官们推翻了马里、布基纳法索和尼日尔的民选政府，并开始与西方列强保持距离。

根据武装冲突地点与事件数据项目的数据，从 2021 年到 2024 年，武装分子在这三个国家杀害了超过 17000 人。

美国坚定不移地奉行其战略，将武器援助和情报共享与旨在提升平民人口和加强机构的举措相结合。

但它面临着新的竞争。殖民主义结束数十年后，非洲再次卷入列强之间的博弈，西方的影响力日渐式微，各国越来越多地接受来自中国企业和俄罗斯承包商的经济和军事支持。

在“非洲雄狮”联合军演中，美军展示了其为面临国内及周边地区动荡局势的国家提供的部分援助能力。除了坦克和轰炸机外，此次联合演习还包括野战医院的运作和演练、医疗后送以及人道主义援助。

此次演习强调采取“全政府”方式来解决不稳定的根源问题，包括气候变化和人口流离失所等，而不是仅仅关注军事力量。

“我们不仅要参与破门而入，这一点很重要，”凯利·托吉奥拉上校说道。他是一名指挥外科医生，曾与摩洛哥医生一起参与此次演习，搭建了一座野战医院。“在危机时刻，这些关系至关重要。”

这一战略与非洲军团提出的战略有所不同。非洲军团是俄罗斯国家资助的私人军事公司瓦格纳集团的后继者，其领导人叶夫根尼·普里戈任已于去年去世。然而，由于一些曾参与过军事演习的军官在几内亚和尼日尔等国民选领导人被推翻后晋升到权力职位，这一战略受到了密切关注。

战略与国际研究中心非洲问题专家卡梅伦·哈德森表示，无论美国军方如何扩大其行动范围，其对反恐的持续关注都将继续增强西非各地军事领导人的权力。

“安全援助的性质决定了它更加显而易见、影响巨大，也更容易被接受方滥用，”哈德森说。“当我们带着训练和武器装备进入某个社会时，我们实际上是在强化该社会内部的权力动态，而从长远来看，这不利于巩固文官民主统治。”

尽管举行了“非洲雄狮”等联合军事演习，美国军方领导人仍难以在他们长期以来视为战略要地的地区维持伙伴关系。尼日尔和乍得等参与“非洲雄狮”演习的国家已经接纳了俄罗斯的教官和准军事部队，并推动美军撤离。

美国军方官员指出，他们评估了俄罗斯和中国“恶意”影响的威胁，但表示他们可以在接受地缘政治对手援助的国家开展工作。

既要遏制俄罗斯的影响力，又要反对推翻民选领导人，这种做法并非在所有地方都奏效，尤其是美国军方经常对各国如何实施所提供的训练和武器附加条件。

尽管军方声称要建立平等伙伴关系和不干涉内政，但美国法律规定，在军事政变中被推翻的政府没有资格获得大部分援助。

新南方政策中心高级研究员拉希德·埃尔·胡代吉表示，西非国家不断增长的青年人口希望塑造新的政治身份，并且在经历了多年的不安全之后，他们对西方持怀疑态度。

他谈到萨赫勒地区一些国家向俄罗斯和中国的援助敞开大门时说：“非洲国家认为多样性是有利的。这让他们可以做出选择，并给予他们许多可能性。”

美联社记者阿鲁希·古普塔从洛杉矶报道。