Silver Falcon 23, the joint military drills between Cyprus and the US, are set to be held on February 6 to 24, according to a statement by the Cypriot Foreign Ministry (MFA).

The exercise will be conducted "in the territory of the Republic of Cyprus from the 6th until the 24th of February 2023. The exercise is held in cooperation with the US European Command (USEUCOM), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus and the National Guard," the ministry said.  

The drills, the statement noted, are aimed to test "the emergency procedures and protocols to be followed in case of a crisis in the region." This will include drills on "the support of humanitarian non-combatant evacuation operations through the territory of the Republic of Cyprus and especially the interoperability between the Armed Forces of the two countries."

The ministry further said that "small numbers of US forces will temporarily be deployed to a number of locations in the territory of the Republic of Cyprus, in order to meet the training and exercise objectives."

The US is also expanding its drills with a number of other countries, including South Korea, eyeing China and the DPRK in the process, and increasing tensions in the Asia Pacific region.

In a joint statement issued by the South Korean and US defense chiefs on January 31st, South Korea and the US have agreed to increase the level and scale of their joint exercises this year.

The defense chiefs also agreed on the importance of taking into account changes in the security environment, hinting at the DPRK's responses to their past military drills and US movement in the region.

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