American and South African soldiers are to take part in a joint exercise in Limpopo this month focused on providing assistance during a humanitarian crisis, the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) said yesterday.

The exercise would involve a simulated flood, and take place from tomorrow until July 19, it said in a statement.

Dubbed Exercise Medflag, it would involve more than 350 South African soldiers and about 210 from the US defence force's European Command -- which is based in Germany and is responsible for the European and African command region.

It would see a joint task force formed and deployed to a "crisis" area for a mass casualty exercise.

The SANDF said Medflag would enhance the crisis response capabilities of the two forces and promote long-term military relations between the two countries.

A number of activities would take place during the exercise, with assistance from the Limpopo health department, to benefit local communities.

This would include the provision of general medical, dental and paediatric care at local clinics, the statement said. – Sapa.