About 2,000 soldiers from 10 African countries were deployed in Kara, northern Togo, on Thursday for military manoeuvres that were scheduled to begin on Friday at various points along the borders between Togo, Ghana and Benin.
The manoeuvres are part of Operation Cohesion Kazah 2001, which simulates a peacekeeping and peace monitoring operation in an African state in which rebels are fighting the regular army.
It began on 17 April with a humanitarian operation in which about 100 mostly military doctors provided free medical care to the local population, according to the Republic of Togo, an online information service.
A participant said the doctors gave more than 6,000 consultations and performed about 20 surgical operations.
Operation Cohesion Kazah 2001, which ends on 24 April, falls within the framework of the strengthening of a conflict resolution mechanism, established in 1994 by the Organisation of African Unity.
Participating countries are Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo.
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