The "Peace and Unity–2024" joint military exercise between China and Tanzania entered the phase of live-fire drill at sea off the east coast of Tanzania on Thursday. The participating vessels departed from the Port of Dar es Salaam and conducted various exercises, including main gun shooting and seizure operations. During the drill, 16 Tanzanian officers and soldiers were invited aboard China's amphibious dock landing ship Wuzhishan to observe the exercises.
"We expect more cooperation between our two countries. This exercise is still going on. We still have more days and we expect more and more effective exercises. And it will be teaching our officers and soldiers to have a better understanding of what is supposed to be done in the navy," said Makhala, a colonel of the Tanzanian navy.
The joint exercise is carrying out under the theme of joint counter-terrorism military operations. In the following days, a range of subjects at sea such as visit board search and seizure (VBSS), anti-terrorism and anti-piracy, and joint maritime patrols will be carried out successively.
"Our two sides cooperated very tacitly in main gun shooting and other subjects, and achieved the expected objectives of the exercise. Through several exercises, our mutual trust and friendship have been enhanced, while also confirming our practical ability to jointly address maritime security threats," said Fei Zhang, a soldier on the Wuzhishan landing ship.
The exercise, which started on Tuesday, will conclude drills at sea on August 5, and the drills on land on August 11.
Joint China-Tanzania military exercise enters phase of live-fire drill at sea
