The recovery of the body of a U.S. military member, reported missing on the 2nd in some cliffs on the southern coast of Morocco during large-scale maneuvers, has closed a massive search operation involving more than a thousand U.S. and Moroccan personnel with air and naval support. The discovery of the soldier, a 19-year-old air defense and missile specialist, occurred on Tuesday in underwater caves, although authorities did not announce it until late Wednesday night. Last Saturday, the body of a 27-year-old artillery lieutenant, whose trail was lost in the same incident, was already found in the same area of Cape Draa, in the Atlantic province of Tan Tan, 840 kilometers south of Rabat.
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Both were off duty at dusk in a cliff area after participating in a training day of the African Lion maneuvers, the largest exercises of the U.S. Armed Forces on the African continent, which concluded on the 8th. Sources from the U.S. Department of Defense cited by CBS television reported that the two soldiers had gone on a group recreational excursion to watch the sunset on the cliffs.
Investigation into the incident
The soldier fell into the sea, and the rest of her companions rushed to try to help her, as she did not know how to swim. At that moment, the lieutenant tried to reach her by swimming, but both were swept away by the waves before disappearing from sight. The U.S. Africa Command (Africom) has opened an investigation into the causes of the events that occurred at the end of an “operational activity.”
The Moroccan Armed Forces have released images of military divers inspecting underwater caves in the area, as well as patrols with search and rescue dogs patrolling a rugged coast. More than a thousand military and security forces personnel have participated in the search operations for the missing – with support from Moroccan and U.S. warships, as well as planes, drones, and helicopters – to cover an area of 21,300 square kilometers.
The Atlantic waters where the remains of the missing were located, near the Draa training field, have very strong marine currents. Numerous cases of drownings and disappearances have been recorded there on the irregular migration route between the Moroccan coast and the Canary Islands, located about 200 kilometers from the coast of Tan Tan.
The international African Lion exercises, which have mobilized nearly 5,000 soldiers from more than 40 countries, began their 22nd edition on April 27 in Morocco. The maneuvers started regionally on April 20 in Tunisia and have also taken place in Ghana and Senegal.
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U.S. Africa Command confirms the recovery of our second Soldier, Spc. Mariyah Collington. We mourn her loss and stand with her family and the 10th AAMDC community in this moment of grief.https://t.co/lYjoEY7HTh pic.twitter.com/49HJEcKcYF
— U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) (@USAfricaCommand) May 13, 2026
With the African Lion deployment, the United States has been sending a message of military supremacy in Africa and rapid reaction capability alongside its allies for more than two decades. Morocco has now displayed, for the first time in combat maneuvers, its new Apache AH-64E helicopters, which fired real shots with 30-millimeter automatic cannons, according to the Moroccan weekly Tel Quel, during training in the Cape Draa area of Tan Tan. This edition of the military exercises has been considered the most technologically advanced.
The presence of kamikaze and reconnaissance drones and electronic warfare anti-drone teams, as well as U.S. systems equipped with artificial intelligence, have confirmed Morocco’s trend toward seeking military superiority through the quality and modernity of its rearmament. In 2025, Moroccan defense spending reached 6.3 billion dollars (5.385 billion euros), a 14% increase over the previous year, reaching nearly 3.5% of gross domestic product (GDP), according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Algeria, its main rival in the Maghreb, has simultaneously increased its military budgets by 11%, totaling 25.4 billion dollars, 8.8% of GDP. Spain has a defense budget of 40.2 billion dollars, representing 2% of its GDP.
For the first time in its 22 editions, the African Lion maneuvers have been carried out this year in Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony whose status has pitted Algiers and Rabat against each other for more than 50 years. The U.S. ambassador to Rabat, Duke Buchan, last week thanked Morocco from El Aaiún, the Saharan capital, for its cooperation in the search for two soldiers missing during the maneuvers. The deployment in the Sahara has been limited to sending a mission of military doctors to attend to civilians in ophthalmological and sanitary hygiene consultations. Until now, the Pentagon had placed the southern limit for the presence of U.S. troops deployed in Morocco during the African Lion maneuvers in the province of Tan Tan.
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