Egypt and Sudan have launched joint military exercises, the Egyptian army announced Saturday, in the latest sign of deepening security ties between the Nile Valley neighbors.

The exercises run by Egyptian and Sudanese commando and air forces were the first joint combat training held since the ouster of Sudanese autocrat Omar al-Bashir last year.

The joint military initiative came less than a month after President Donald Trump announced that Washington would remove Sudan from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, paving the way for the African country to be integrated into the international community. 

That move combined with Sudan's decision to start normalizing ties with Israel, a key U.S. ally in the region.

Egypt's military said in a statement that the joint combat exercises, dubbed "Nile's Eagles-1", are being held in Sudan and would last until Nov. 26.

The exercises include planning and running combat activities, as well as commando groups conducting search and rescue missions, according to the statement.