Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) The Indonesian and United States militaries are expanding their annual bilateral exercises to 14 participating countries, the Indonesian Army said in a news release Thursday. Troops from the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Canada will be among those joining the Garuda Shield 2022 exercises from August 1 to 14, the army said. The 16th edition of the war games will include live-fire exercises, special operations and aviation components among other disciplines, it added. Last year's Garuda Shield involved two US Army divisions -- about 1,000 soldiers -- as well as their Indonesian counterparts in what the US Army said was the largest edition of the war games to date. "The two-week Garuda Shield joint-exercise continues to solidify the U.S. -- Indonesia Major Defense Partnership and advances cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific region," a US Army statement said in advance of last year's exercises.

Source: CNN April 09, 2022 01:41 UTC