Joint military exercise “HERCULES 2” kicked off on Sunday at the Mohamed Naguib Military Base in Marsa Matrouh governorate in western Egypt.

Special forces of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Greece and Cyprus are taking part in the several-day drill.

Jordan, the US, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Bahrain are also participating in the exercise as observers.

At the beginning of the drill, Major General Khaled Ahmed Shawky, Head of the Training Authority of the Armed Forces, conveyed the greetings of Defense Minister Mohamed Zaki and Chief of Staff Osama Askar to the attendees.

Shawky asserted the importance of conducting this military training to upgrade the combat capabilities of the participating forces and unify visions to confront common challenges.

The HERCULES 2 exercise comes as part of Egypt’s keenness to strengthen military relations with sisterly and friendly countries to consolidate the foundations of military cooperation and develop joint work in a way that contributes to the exchange of experience.

Source: State Information Service Egypt