A counter-weapons of mass destruction (C-WMD) exercise took place on Tuesday, May 5, at the Grand Stade d’Agadir as part of the “African Lion 2026” joint military cooperation between Morocco and the United States.
Conducted under the High Instructions of King Mohammed VI, the simulation envisioned a crisis during a major continental football match attended by 40,000 spectators. The scenario began with a fire and a chemical agent release that caused panic and respiratory symptoms among the crowd, while CBRNE detectors and the discovery of a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device further escalated the emergency.
As the situation intensified with smoke dispersal and a secondary explosion, special forces were deployed to apprehend hostile individuals, and security services utilized an anti-drone system to neutralize a suspicious aerial threat. A second explosive device was found in the underground parking, prompting joint Moroccan-American NEDEX teams to use a remote-controlled robot for neutralization. The exercise concluded with decontamination and aerial evacuation operations, forming a key component of the broader African Lion maneuvers occurring across multiple sites until May 8.
AK/te/lb/abj/APA