AFRICOM said the US, Morocco and other countries participating in the African Lion exercise have launched a search and rescue operation.
CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) — Two U.S. service members are missing in southwestern Morocco after taking part in annual multinational military exercises in the North African country, the United States Africa Command said Sunday.
The service members are U.S. Army soldiers who went missing during a hike, a U.S. defense official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
“They were not actively participating in any training. The day’s drills were over and, from our understanding, they were out for a recreational walk,” the official said.
AFRICOM said the US, Morocco and other countries participating in the African Lion exercise have launched a search and rescue operation.
“The incident remains under investigation and searches are ongoing,” a statement said.
The incident happened on Saturday around 9:00 p.m., the Moroccan military said, near the Cap Draa training area near Tan Tan, close to the Atlantic Ocean. The terrain is mountainous, a mixture of desert and semi-desert plains.
The search team includes helicopters, ships, mountain rescue units and divers, the defense official told AP.
“The soldiers were last seen near ocean cliffs near the Cap Draa Training Area during a scheduled exercise. When they did not return as expected, US and Moroccan personnel immediately launched a joint search effort,” the official added.
The war games exercise began in April and takes place in four countries, including Tunisia, Ghana and Senegal. It is scheduled to be completed in early May.
The exercise began in Tunisia with active duty members of various branches of the US military, including the National Guard, Army Reserve, Air Force and Marine Corps.
In total, over 7,000 personnel from more than 30 countries are participating in the four host countries.
African Lion, which has been running since 2004, is the largest annual US military exercise on the continent and usually involves senior military officials from the US and its key African allies.
US military officials have said the annual multinational engagement serves as a venue for strengthening regional security cooperation and refining the readiness of participating forces for global crises.
In 2012, two US Marines were killed and two others were injured in a helicopter crash in the southern Moroccan city of Agadir while participating in African Lion.
Morocco is a key ally of the United States in a troubled region. Since 2020, military officers disillusioned with their governments’ record on curbing violence have overthrown democratically elected governments in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger and begun to distance themselves from Western powers.
By OPE ADETAYO and AKRAM OUBACHIR Associated Press.
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