Cairo, Sep 3 (IANS) Egypt is hosting the 'Bright Star' joint military drill with 21 countries after a one-year delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the army said in a statement.

The drill, held on the Mohamed Naguib military base at the Mediterranean Sea, will end on September 17, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement issued on Thursday as saying.

"It is one of the largest and most important world military exercises due to the large number of participating troops," it said.

Besides Egypt, troops from 21 countries, including the US, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, France, Britain, Greece and Italy, are taking part in the military exercises, it added.

The Bright Star multinational military drill was launched in 1980 as part of the US-brokered peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.

It has been hosted by Egypt in cooperation with the US every two years.

The drill, originally scheduled for September 2020, was suspended due to the raging Covid-19 pandemic.

--IANS ksk/