KAMPALA, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Troops from the East African region, United States and the European Union are scheduled to hold a joint military training exercise in Uganda for two weeks, starting June 18.
Brig. Richard Karemire, Uganda's military spokesperson, told Xinhua by telephone on Wednesday that the troops will conduct a joint Command Post Exercise aimed at improving their capabilities to respond to regional security threats and enhance peacekeeping operations.
"The exercise seeks to assess abilities of participants in conducting peace keeping operations and to enhance positive bilateral and regional relationships in austere environments with coalition partners," said Karemire.
The exercise will attract participants from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Somalia, Netherlands, and United States. It will be conducted at the Uganda Rapid Deployment Capability Center, in eastern town of Jinja.
The exercise will include scenarios related to conducting peacekeeping operations under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
Uganda and Kenya have deployed peacekeeping troops under AMISOM to help pacify Somalia.