KAMPALA, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- At least 40 Ugandan military and police officers on Friday left for a two-week's joint East Africa Community (EAC) command post exercise on peace support operations, counter terrorism and disaster management in Tanzania.
Brig. Richard Karemire, Ugandan military spokesperson, told Xinhua on Saturday that the officers led by Brig. Stephen Kashure, deputy commandant, army senior command and staff college, Kimaka, will join other five EAC partner states armies and police in the exercise code named "CPX USHIRIKIANO IMARA 2017" in the Tanzanian city of Dar-es-salaam.
At least 240 military, police and civilians from the EAC partner states of Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and South Sudan will participate in the command post exercise that kicks off on Dec. 4-Dec. 17.
The exercise aims to engage the EAC armed forces and civilians in the planning and conduct of an integrated peace support operation, disaster management, counter-terrorism and counter-piracy in order to improve capabilities to jointly combat complex security challenges.
"The joint command post exercise is intended to sharpen the skills of the troops in countering regional instability and security threats as well as supporting international peace," said Karemire.
Security remains a primary concern for the EAC partner states due to instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Somalia.
