Accra-Ghana, March 7, GNA – Countering the security challenges in West Africa requires effective collaboration among multiple security agencies and global stakeholders, Colonel Richard Mensah, Commander, Joint Multinational Headquarters for Flintlock 2023 has said.
“We can’t always use kinetic means to defeat terrorist activities, but we can involve other non-security sectors to win the hearts and minds of the local population to fight security challenges within the region,” he said.
Col Mensah said this on Tuesday at the launch of a Joint Military Headquarters for operation 2023 Flintlock, co-hosted by Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.
Flintlock is the U.S. Africa Command’s premier and largest annual special operations exercise, combining military and law enforcement to strengthen African and international special operations forces’ capabilities.
The exercise, which has been conducted annually since 2005, operates on the basis of mutual respect and collaboration to advance the shared interests of regional stability.
The Headquarters for the joint military exercise is at the British High Commission in Accra.
The exercise brings together 29 nations and over 1,000 participants and inter-agencies to develop a global Special Operators Forces network among African and international partners.
Col Mensah said this year’s event was the first time in 15 years Ghana was hosting the exercise although the country had been participating in it.
He said recent events in the Sahel region called for concerted efforts by all nations to ensure the peace and security of citizens on the continent.
The Commander said Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, as host nations, stood to gain tremendously from the exercise, which would build the interoperability of different agencies and the capacities and competencies to ensure the readiness of troops to deal decisively with all threats in the region.
“The global threats to terrorism is real, and we need to be ready now because special operations are not created during emergencies,” he said.
He urged participants to fully and actively participate in the exercise to ensure that the objective of building the capacities and readiness of all nations to deal with unforeseen security challenges is achieved.
Ms Harriet Thompson, the British High Commissioner to Ghana, noted that partnership was at the centre of every initiative, meeting, and speech of the operation Flintlock exercise.
“As a nation, we will work together to share expertise, knowledge, and best practices to strengthen peace and security across the Sahel and Coastal West Africa,” he said.
She said the strategies and lessons learned at the end of the exercise would be shared among stakeholders to help them adopt and overcome the real threats to regional peace and security.
Col Robert Zyla, Deputy Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command Africa, said the exercise would help increase communication among participants, strengthen abilities to share information, and foster a collaborative environment to address regional security concerns.
He commended Ghana for its leadership through multilateral peacekeeping missions across the continent and stressed that a safer and more secure Africa would result in a more prosperous global society and security environment.
Col William Nortey, Director of Operations, Ghana Army, advised Governments, competing agencies and groups in Africa and beyond to build mutual trust and understanding to boost the fight against terrorism.
