South African Special Forces were in Pakistan for a two-week long exercise with their Pakistani counterparts, with a focus on counter-terrorism.
Exercise Iqbal-I was held between 15 and 27 October at Cherat, Pakistan and comprised two combat teams from the Pakistan Army’s Special Services Group, and a team of South African Special Forces.
The Pakistan Army said the Commandant Special Operation School attended the closing ceremony on 27 October as the main guest while Colonel Solomon Lechoenyo from the South Africa Special Forces also witnessed the closing ceremony.
Troops “displayed highest standards of professional excellence during the conduct,” the Pakistan Army said, adding that the exercise was aimed at refining the drills, procedures and techniques involved in counter-terrorism operations through joint training, besides harnessing the historic military to military relations among the friendly countries.
Pakistan and South Africa hold regular military engagements – for example in August Pakistan’s Air Chief Marshall Zaheer Ahmed Babar Sidhu spent six days visiting his counterpart in South Africa. South African and Pakistani military representatives have made numerous visits to each other’s respective countries over the years – notably, Chief of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), General Rudzani Maphwanya, visited Pakistan in July 2021.
In March 2017, South Africa and Pakistan signed a government-to-government defence co-operation agreement which included industrial co-operation. The Pakistani military has sent students to the Army College in South Africa while Pakistan accepted South African officers for staff college training. Pakistan has also trained South African personnel in special forces roles. In 2019 the SANDF said around 40 South African commanders were trained in Pakistan. This included counter-terrorism training.
