Coronavirus likely to delay Pentagon war games in Mideast to 2021

Mideast war exercises planned for this year are likely to be delayed until 2021, and other war games scheduled for next year may be delayed until 2022.
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US naval troops perform an operation during the Bright Star joint war games that involved 30,000 troops from 12 countries on the coast of Egypt's northern El-Alamein region, Sept. 15, 2005. Bright Star was scheduled for this year, but is likely to be postponed until 2021. - KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images
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Jared Szuba
@JM_Szuba

The Pentagon plans to postpone one of its largest war games exercises in the Middle East due to the coronavirus pandemic, Al-Monitor has learned.

Operation Bright Star, an exercise that brings together troops from several nations to train alongside and learn about Egypt’s military, will likely be postponed until 2021, a US official told Al-Monitor. It was originally set to be held this September.

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