SAO VICENTE (Cape Verde), June 22: Seven thousand NATO troops conducted war games on the Atlantic Ocean island of Cape Verde on Thursday in the latest sign of the alliance’s growing interest in playing a role in Africa.

The land, air and sea exercises were NATO’s first major deployment in Africa and designed to show the former Cold War giant can launch far-flung military operations at short notice.

“You are seeing the new NATO, the one that has the ability to project stability,” said NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told a news conference after NATO troops stormed a beach on one of the islands on the archipelago in a mock assault on a fictitious terrorist camp.

NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe James Jones, the alliance soldier in charge of NATO operations, said he hoped the two-week Cape Verde exercises would help break down negative images about NATO in Africa and elsewhere.

“Everyone’s amazed (that) when they brush up against NATO it’s a good experience,” said Jones, pointing to the positive reaction from Cape Verdeans to NATO’s presence.

Not only did the government invite NATO in, but it got cross-party backing.

Cape Verde, 500kms from the west coast of Africa, is keen to cooperate with international partners in combating problems it faces such as drugs and human trafficking.

In its first foray onto the African continent, NATO started last year offering transportation and small-scale training to African Union troops struggling to quell violence in Sudan’s western Darfur region. It has also launched defence partnerships with several north African states.

The alliance is looking to extend the Darfur mission this year while ruling out a direct combat role.—Reuters