More than 600 military personnel from multiple nations are engaged in an extensive search for two US soldiers who vanished in Morocco during joint US-African military exercises. The operation, now in its fifth day, involves scouring underwater caves and a vast stretch of the Atlantic coast as the African Lion drills draw to a close.
The two US Army members went missing last week near the Cap Draa training area, located outside Tan-Tan, a coastal city in southwestern Morocco. Authorities believe they were on a recreational hike and may have fallen into the ocean. The search effort, involving personnel from the US, Morocco, and other African Lion participants, has covered more than 17 square miles of coastal and open-ocean areas.
According to CBS News, one of the soldiers, who was unable to swim, fell into the ocean around 9 p.m. local time. This prompted the rest of the group to form a human chain using their belts to try to pull them out of the water, but this proved unsuccessful. The second soldier then jumped in to try to save their colleague, only to be hit by a wave. When neither could make it back to shore, a third entered the ocean but could not reach them and had to return for their own safety.
The Moroccan Navy released video footage on Wednesday showing military divers examining caves, aircraft scanning the ocean surface, and teams of uniformed personnel alongside canine crews combing the rocky shoreline. Several Moroccan military units are actively involved in the search, with two vessels from the maritime training component of the drills reassigned to the operation. Aviation equipment deployed includes US and Moroccan aircraft, and technology vendors have deployed unmanned aerial systems to aid surveillance.
The soldiers were participating in African Lion 26, a US-led exercise launched in April across Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana, and Senegal. The drills involve more than 7,000 personnel from over 30 nations and are scheduled to conclude on Friday. Since 2004, it has stood as the largest US joint military exercise conducted in Africa. A US defense official stated, 'Our two soldiers and their families remain our absolute priority.'
