East African security chiefs meet in Uganda to plan for joint exercise

KAMPALA, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Security chiefs from the east African region are meeting in Uganda to plan for a joint military exercise aimed at enhancing the interoperability of the forces.

The six-day planning meeting, is attended by the military, police and prison commanders from Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania and South Sudan, according to a statement from the Ugandan military issued on Tuesday.

The exercise, dubbed Command Post exercise (CPX) will be held later this year. According to the statement, the exercise will enhance interoperability and build capacity of the East Africa forces and partner agencies in handling the region's security challenges as a single block.

The statement said the region is facing security challenges and natural calamities that needed to be addressed through "concerted efforts by the region's forces and other supporting agencies."

This year's CPX will be the 12th and will focus on security challenges, peace support operations, disaster management, counter terrorism, while enhancing the state of readiness of East African Community partner states in combating complex security challenges in the region.