Egypt-Jordan ‘Aqaba 2016’ war games begin

AMMAN — Armies of Jordan and Egypt on Saturday started a military drill, dubbed "Aqaba 2016", to boost operational preparedness, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The 20-day war games are aimed at boosting relations between the armies of both countries and training the troops to conduct joint plans involving various tasks and using available resources.

The participating units will also be trained to counter current security threats and possible future ones.
The Aqaba 2016 drill,  during which troops from both countries will execute activities designed to deal with the current situation in the region, will take place in the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army’s (JAF) training fields, with the participation of various land, naval and air units.

The Egyptian troops were received by senior officers upon their arrival. 
The two countries held a similar drill last year, with the participation of elite military units from the two armies.

Jordan and Egypt have both been harmed by Sinai-based terrorist groups, which have attacked a vital gas pipe more than a dozen times since 2011.

The sabotage eventually led to a complete halt of the cheaper Egyptian supplies of the commodity and a subsequent energy crisis in the Kingdom, caused by its dependence on the expensive fuel oil instead  to generate electricity.