NICOSIA, May 16 (Xinhua) -- A civil-military exercise in which seven countries are participating started in Cyprus on Monday, the Cypriot Defense Ministry said in a press release.
It said that exercise "Argonaut 2022" is taking place in Cyprus' sea, air and land territory with the participation of civil and military units from Cyprus, Greece, the United Kingdom, France, Egypt, the United States and Israel. It will last until May 20.
The exercise is aimed at testing the capabilities of multiple nations to work together should an operation be required to evacuate non-combatant from a crisis area in the region and transfer them to Cyprus, said the press release.
The multinational exercise, which is an annual event, was not held in the previous two years due to the coronavirus pandemic. ■