Moroccan and US forces are among nearly 1 300 troops from across the world taking part in a major military exercise in southern Morocco, the American embassy and military officials said. Military personnel from Britain, France, Germany, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Spain and Tunisia are also taking part in the joint …

US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis arrived on Sunday for a short visit to Djibouti, a strategically important country on the Horn of Africa which hosts the United States’ only permanent military base on the African continent. Camp Lemonnier, home to about 4 000 US soldiers and contractors, is vital to …

Morocco said on Sunday it will pull back from a zone of the contested Western Sahara that has raised tensions with Algeria-backed Polisario Front separatists. “The Kingdom of Morocco will proceed from today with a unilateral withdrawal from the (Guerguerat) zone,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.