Rabat, Morocco — Two American soldiers went missing in southwestern Morocco after participating in annual multinational military exercises in the North African country, the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) announced on Sunday.
AFRICOM said that the United States, Morocco and other countries participating in the African Lion exercise launched a search and rescue operation.
She added in a statement that “the incident is still under investigation and research is continuing.”
The accident occurred on May 2 near the Cap Draa training area near Tan-Tan, near the Atlantic Ocean. The terrain is mountainous, a mixture of desert and semi-desert plains.
The war exercises began last April and extend across four countries, including Tunisia, Ghana and Senegal. It is scheduled to end in early May.
The command did not specify which unit or branch of the military the missing service members belong to. The Associated Press requested clarification.
The training began in Tunisia with active duty members from various branches of the US military, including the National Guard, Army Reserve, Air Force, and Marine Corps.
In total, more than 7,000 individuals are participating from more than 30 countries across the four host nations.
“African Lion”, which has been taking place since 2004, is the largest annual joint US military exercise on the continent and usually involves high-ranking military officials from the United States and its major African allies.
US military officials said the annual multinational engagement serves as a venue for strengthening regional security cooperation and improving the preparedness of participating forces to confront global crises.
In 2012, two US Marines were killed and two others were injured during a helicopter crash in the city of Agadir in southern Morocco while participating in Operation African Lion.
Morocco is a key US ally in a turbulent region. Since 2020, military officers, disillusioned with their governments’ records in stamping out violence, have ousted democratically elected governments in the country. financial, Burkina Faso and Niger They began to turn away from the Western powers.
