The Egyptian Armed Forces on Thursday conducted the main stage of a land and sea training maneuver titled “Hasm 2020” (Decisive 2020).
The Armed Forces’ land, marine and air defense forces took part in the strategic maneuver, in cooperation with units from Egypt’s Western Military Region.
Minister of Defense and Military Production Mohamed Zaki and Army Chief of Staff Mohamed Farid attended the maneuver, which lasted for several days, Egypt’s State Information Service said.
Military commanders and the chiefs of Egypt’s main military units also attended the maneuver, which is a part of the armed forces’ combat training.
The maneuver included multi-task aircraft — helicopters that used live ammunition to target a battalion of tanks under full coverage from air defense forces.
The exercises aim at eradicating militants, as well as their gathering points, command centers and various aspects of their logistics operations.
The defense minister praised the combat capabilities of the armed forces, as well as their readiness to perfectly counter any attacks.
At the end of the maneuver, the minister conveyed President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s greetings to military personnel, lauding their sacrifices to protect the homeland.
Sisi inspected the Air force’s combat units in the Western Military Command last month, accompanied by the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, and the commanders of the main branches of the Armed Forces.
During a televised speech at the Western Military Command, Sisi instructed Air Force combat units to prepare to carry out missions outside Egypt’s borders if necessary.
Sisi added that at this point Egypt has international legitimacy — based on the United Nations Charter — to intervene in the Libyan crisis. He said that Egypt has also received support from the Libyan House of Representatives to make a military intervention in the Libyan crisis.
Any intervention will aim to protect and secure the western borders from terrorist militias, Sisi explained, and to restore stability to Libya’s territories and thereby maintain the stability of Egypt and Arab national security at large.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
