The US has backed Morocco’s claims, but contradicted Rabat’s statement about the drills being held there. During the massive “African Lion” war games in Morocco, the US-led international force practiced attacking Russian-made S-400 Triumf air defense systems. The War Zone notes that it’s not clear if Morocco’s neighbor and regional rival of Algeria has obtained S-400 systems, meaning the exercise isn’t necessarily aimed at Algiers’ military. It does have the slightly older S-300PMU-2, which is similar enough to the S-400 in terms of appearance to create ambiguity in reports alleging to show Algeria has obtained S-400s. Regardless, other nations have definitely bought or are actively interested in buying their own S-400 systems, including of course Russia as well as China and Turkey, which have already received batteries.

Source: The North Africa Journal June 16, 2021 05:56 UTC