Two U.S. service members are missing in southwestern Morocco after taking part in the multinational African Lion military exercises, U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said Sunday.
AFRICOM identified the missing personnel as U.S. Army soldiers who disappeared while on a recreational hike after that day’s training had ended, a U.S. defense official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The official said the soldiers were not engaged in training when they went missing.
U.S., Moroccan and partner-nation forces involved in African Lion have launched a joint search-and-rescue operation. AFRICOM said the incident remains under investigation and the search is ongoing.
Moroccan military officials said the disappearance occurred on Saturday at about 9 p.m. near the Cap Draa Training Area by Tan Tan, close to the Atlantic coast. The terrain in the area includes mountains and a mix of desert and semi-desert plains. According to the U.S. defense official, the soldiers’ last known location was near coastal cliffs in the Cap Draa vicinity; when they failed to return as expected, U.S. and Moroccan personnel immediately began searching.
Search assets include helicopters, ships, mountain rescue teams and divers, the official said.
African Lion began in April and spans four countries, including Tunisia, Ghana and Senegal, and was scheduled to conclude in early May. The exercise kicked off in Tunisia with participants from multiple U.S. components — active-duty forces, the National Guard, Army Reserve, Air Force and Marine Corps — and involves more than 7,000 personnel from over 30 nations.
Running since 2004, African Lion is the U.S. military’s largest annual joint exercise on the African continent. It aims to strengthen regional security cooperation and improve the readiness of participating forces.
The exercise has seen serious incidents in the past: in 2012, two U.S. Marines were killed and two others injured in a helicopter crash during African Lion near Agadir. Morocco remains a key U.S. ally in a region that has experienced coups and shifts in foreign alignments since 2020.