Two U.S. Army Soldiers Are Missing After Military Exercises
CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) — Two U.S. soldiers are missing in southwestern Morocco after participating in annual multinational military exercises in the North African country, United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) said Sunday.
The soldiers were U.S. Army soldiers who went missing during the march, a U.S. defense official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak publicly about the matter.
“They were not actively participating in any training. The daily drills had ended and we understand they were out for a recreational walk,” the official said.
AFRICOM said the United States, Morocco and other countries participating in the African Lion exercise launched a search and rescue operation.
In the statement, it was stated that “the incident is being investigated and searches continue.”
The Moroccan military said the incident took place around 21:00 on Saturday near the Cap Draa Training Area near Tan Tan, near the Atlantic Ocean. The terrain is mountainous; It is a mixture of desert and semi-desert plains.
The search team included helicopters, ships, mountain rescue units and divers, a defense official told the AP.
“The soldiers were last seen near the ocean cliffs near the Cap Draa Training Area during scheduled training. When they did not return as expected, U.S. and Moroccan personnel immediately launched a joint search effort,” the official added.
The war games exercise began in April and is being held in four countries, including Tunisia, Ghana and Senegal. It is planned to end in early May.
The exercise began in Tunisia with active-duty members of different branches of the U.S. military, including the National Guard, Army Reserve, Air Force and Marine Corps.
In total, over 7,000 personnel from more than 30 countries across four host countries are participating.
Conducted since 2004, African Lion is the largest annual joint U.S. military exercise on the continent and is usually conducted with the participation of senior military officials from the United States and its African allies.
U.S. military officials said the annual multinational engagement serves as a venue to strengthen regional security cooperation and improve the preparedness of participating forces for global crises.
In 2012, two US Marines died and two soldiers were injured in a helicopter crash participating in the African Lion competition in Agadir, southern Morocco.
Morocco is an important ally of the United States in a troubled region. Since 2020, military officers disappointed with their governments’ record on preventing violence have overthrown democratically elected governments. Financial, Burkina Faso And Niger They began to move away from Western powers.
Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria.
