The day’s training had finished. Two U.S. Army soldiers walked out toward the ocean cliffs near Tan Tan, in southwestern Morocco, and did not come back.
The Moroccan military put the time of the incident at about 9 p.m. on Saturday, near the Cap Draa Training Area, a stretch of mountainous country where desert gives way to semidesert plains not far from the Atlantic. U.S. Africa Command confirmed the disappearance on Sunday.
A U.S. defense official, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said the pair were not in any drill at the time. “They were not actively taking part in any training. The day’s exercises had concluded, and, from our understanding, they were out on a recreational hike,” the official said. When the soldiers failed to return as expected, American and Moroccan personnel started a joint search straight away.
What the search involves
AFRICOM said the United States, Morocco and the other countries in the African Lion exercise have mounted a search and rescue operation. “The incident remains under investigation and the search is ongoing,” the command said in a statement.
The defense official described the team as made up of helicopters, ships, mountain rescue units and divers. By Monday, CBS News was reporting that aircraft were flying the Moroccan coastline, and cited defense officials who said the soldiers fell from a cliff into the waves below while hiking off duty.
The exercise behind it
African Lion started in April and spans four countries, among them Tunisia, Ghana and Senegal, with Morocco as the fourth. It is due to end in early May. More than 7,000 personnel from over 30 nations are taking part. U.S. participants began in Tunisia and come from the active-duty branches, the National Guard, the Army Reserve, the Air Force and the Marine Corps.
Running since 2004, it is the largest annual U.S. joint military exercise on the continent. Officials describe it as a way to strengthen regional security cooperation and sharpen the readiness of forces for global crises.
It has cost lives before. In 2012, two U.S. Marines died and two others were hurt when a helicopter crashed near Agadir in southern Morocco during the exercise.
Morocco counts as a major U.S. ally in a volatile region. Since 2020, military officers have overthrown elected governments in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, and those countries have drifted away from Western powers. The names and units of the two missing soldiers have not been released.
Sources
- Two U.S. Army Soldiers Are Missing After Military Exercises
- 2 missing U.S. soldiers in Morocco were hiking when they fell off cliff, officials say
