Paratroopers put desert warfare skills to the test in Ex Jebel Sahara in Morocco
British Army soldiers have been putting their desert warfare skills to the test in Morocco.
Alongside their Moroccan counterparts, Colchester-based A Company Group, 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment are on a three-week-long exercise near Marrakech.
For the British paratroopers, Exercise Jebel Sahara provides an opportunity to learn from the Moroccan troops' experience of operating in the hot, dry and demanding conditions of the desert.
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In return, the British troops have shared with the Moroccans their hard-earned skills in patrolling – both on foot and in vehicles – marksmanship, demolitions, and casualty care.
The soldiers have also honed their fire and manoeuvre tactics on live-fire battle runs.
Exercise Jebel Sahara is building toward a six-day war game with British and Moroccan troops fighting side by side to seize an airstrip to use as a base from where to launch strike operations.
Morocco is a long-standing partner of the UK in North Africa, with the first bilateral Exercise Jebel Sahara held in 1989.
The Army says that "training together helps build shared skills and relationships between the two armies to improve their ability to operate together".