Malta, Italy in joint military exercise

The Maltese and Italian armed forces have just completed the fifth edition of 'Exercise Terraferma', an annual live bilateral training exercise intended to boost the forces of both countries.

The first phase took place in Malta between October 9-16, while phase two was conducted in Italy at the Persano Military Training Areas, off Naples, between October 23 and November 6.

The aim of this year's exercise was to promote cooperation and peace in the Mediterranean region through exercise in the conduct of multinational peace support and humanitarian assistance operations in which units of Maltese and Italian armed forces may be deployed together.

The main objectives were to maintain the training standards achieved by land forces and to enhance the interoperability of their commands and units in the use of standard procedures when carrying out a number of activities.

These include checkpoints and observation post duties; anti-riot drills; crowd control; search operations and medical evacuation.