At least 300 troops from the three east African nations, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya are scheduled to end their 10-day joint military drills on disaster management at a military barracks in eastern Uganda on Friday.

The military exercise, code-named Operation Hot springs, the third of its kind carried out jointly by the three states, was conducted at the Junior Staff College in Gaddafi Barracks in Jinja District.

Military officers from the navy, air and land forces underwent training on requirements for conducting joint operations, search and rescue in the event of natural disasters or emergencies.

The military exercise is aimed at promoting defense cooperation between the East African states in disaster management and crisis response.

The training is carried out under a memorandum of understanding between the three countries.

Under the memorandum signed in 1998 and revised in 2001, the three governments will cooperate in, among other areas, joint military training, joint operations, technical assistance, visits and information exchange.

Source: Xinhua