Agence France-Presse, Hundreds of U.S. and Bahraini military and health personnel conducted an emergency response exercise April 24 in Bahrain, the largest such combined drill in the Gulf state, a U.S. spokesman said.
The exercise, which lasted several hours, was described as very successful by the commanders of the participating units, said the spokesman for the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, which is based in Bahrain.
“The coordination between the units was good and the performance was good,” he said, adding that the drill had been planned for six months and was not linked to Iran’s standoff with the West over Tehran’s nuclear program.
“No. I know there is this kind of speculation. This is not the first exercise of its kind. We’ve been doing this exercise with the Bahrainis for six years,” the spokesman said.
A 5th Fleet statement earlier April 24 said more than 800 U.S. service members and Defense Department personnel, along with hundreds of people from the Bahraini interior, health and defense ministries, would take part in “Exercise Desert Sailor 07.”
The exercise was designed to bring U.S. and Bahraini “response elements together to function as a single crisis management team that will work together to solve any potential issues brought about through a mass casualty scenario,” the statement quoted a U.S. spokesman as saying.
Senior Bahraini interior ministry official Mohammed bin Daynah also said similar joint exercises had been taking place for the last six years, but the one April 24 was the largest of its kind.
