Two U.S. service members went missing while participating in U.S. Africa Command’s exercise African Lion 2026 in Morocco, the command said.
Initial reports suggested the two fell into the ocean after they were reported missing near the sea cliffs by the Cap Draa Training Area outside of Tan Tan on May 2, a defense official told the Washington Examiner.
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The search was still underway as of noon Sunday, the official said.
“U.S., Moroccan and other assets from African Lion immediately initiated coordinated search and rescue operations, including ground, air, and maritime assets. The incident remains under investigation and the search is on-going,” AFRICOM said in a statement.
AFRICOM said in the Sunday morning statement that the command’s focus “is on the service members involved and their families” and that more details would be released as they become available.
The African Lion exercise is AFRICOM’s largest and main annual joint exercise that includes about 5,500 service member participants from over 30 nations. The exercise includes both African and NATO member nation participants, in addition to the United States.
The missing person incident took place in the last week of this year’s exercise, as the 2026 event is scheduled to run from April 20 to May 8. This is the 22nd year of the event
The event focuses on joint all-domain operations, the service members’ crisis response, and bolstering interoperability among the multinational participants, according to U.S. Army Europe and Africa. This year’s event is hosted by Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia.
“African Lion 26 is a critical demonstration of peace through strength in action,” Air Force Gen. Dagvin Anderson, commander of AFRICOM, said in a late April statement. “We are working to prevent Islamic terrorists in Africa from using regional safe havens to strike the U.S. Homeland, and empowering allies and partners to lead efforts to degrade and destroy these organizations.”
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The 2026 event has included training like armed live-fire exercises, international academic exercises, explosives exercises, and humanitarian support exercises.
The Washington Examiner has reached out to AFRICOM for comment.
