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SA ARMY on FULL ALERT

READY: Soldiers demonstrate hostage rescue exercises at the Bloemfontein Army base. Pic. Vathiswa Ruselo. 21/022010. © Sowetan.
READY: Soldiers demonstrate hostage rescue exercises at the Bloemfontein Army base. Pic. Vathiswa Ruselo. 21/022010. © Sowetan.

THE SOUTH AFRICAN army is ready to deal with any threat to the security and sovereignty of the country during the 2010 Fifa soccer World Cup, the chief of the army has said.

"We have prepared ourselves for any eventuality," chief of the army Lieutenant General Solly Shoke said.

Shoke was speaking at an open day staged by the army's airborne forces at the Bloemspruit air force base in the Free State.

He was confident of the skills and agility demonstrated by the army's airborne forces during Exercise Young Eagle.

The exercise demonstrated the skills of the air force and their readiness to deal with the threat of terror during the World Cup.

The exercise simulated a hostage-taking as a "worst case scenario".

Members of the air force's 46 SA Brigade, parachute regiment, infantry and artillery regiments took part.

"Our soldiers are more than capable of securing the country's integrity in 2010," Brigadier General Sithabiso Mahlobo said.

"We will be poised to deal with any foe that might lurk in any part of our space."

Lieutenant Colonel Sageus Andima, senior staff officer of operations, was praised for his role in the planning and execution of Exercise Young Eagle.

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