More than 7,000 Nato forces today began a two week war games exercise in southern Spain and the Mediterranean .
The annual maritime, air and amphibious exercise, named Destined Glory 2001 comes as the United States attempts to assemble an international coalition in response to the terrorist attacks.
The exercise involves 35 ships and 40 aircraft from ten NATO nations, including Britain.
Nato said the forces would train together as a joint reaction force, conducting ‘‘a full spectrum of defence operations such as peace support and crisis response to maintain Nato troops readiness to respond immediately to any crisis.’’
In another annual Nato combat exercise, more than 5,000 soldiers from 16 Nato nations have begun arriving in northwestern Turkey.
That exercise, called Adventure Exchange 2001, begins on Sunday with artillery exercises 160 miles northeast of Istanbul.