Two U.S. military personnel participating in the African Lion maneuvers, the largest on the African continent, have been reported missing since Saturday night in southern Morocco, about 300 kilometers north of Western Sahara, according to a statement released this Sunday by the United States Africa Command (Africom) cited by the Moroccan press. The U.S. military and Moroccan security forces have launched search and rescue operations in a cliff area of Cape Draa, in the coastal province of Tan Tan, 840 kilometers south of Rabat.
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The African Lion international exercises, involving nearly 5,000 soldiers from more than 40 countries, began their 22nd edition last Monday and are scheduled to continue until the 8th. The Moroccan Armed Forces have specified through a statement released on social media that the two U.S. military personnel were reported missing at 21:00 (one hour later in mainland Spain).
Search operations also involve forces from other countries, whose nationality has not been specified, using land, air, and maritime resources. Africom commanders have opened an investigation into the disappearance of both military personnel, which occurred at the end of an “operational activity,” and no hypothesis is initially ruled out.
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With the African Lion maneuvers, the United States has been sending an unequivocal message of military supremacy in Africa and reaction capability alongside its allies for more than two decades. Israeli troops have deployed in previous editions of these U.S.-led exercises, despite popular protests that have shaken Morocco against Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip.
Last year, two Israeli military personnel participating in the maneuvers were injured in a traffic accident and were treated in a Moroccan hospital. Israel sent military observers to the African Lion maneuvers for the first time in 2022, following the resumption of relations with Morocco sponsored by President Donald Trump in December 2020, during the final weeks of his first term, and has participated since then in the exercises with an unspecified number of forces. Military sources cited by the French magazine Jeune Afrique have highlighted the presence of Israeli commando units and specialists in counter-guerrilla warfare.
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