Two US service members missing after joint military exercises in Morocco

Two US service members are missing in southwestern Morocco after taking part in annual multinational military exercises in the North African country, the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) said Sunday. The service members are US army soldiers who went missing while on a hike, a US defence official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity as they were not allowed to speak publicly about the issue. “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. Read moreWashington to pull some 5,000 US troops from Germany as rift over Iran war widens AFRICOM said the US, Morocco and other countries participating in the African Lion exercise have launched a search and rescue operation. “The incident remains under investigation and the search is ongoing,” it said in a statement. The incident happened on Saturday at about 9pm, the Moroccan military said, near the Cap Draa Training Area near Tan Tan, close to the Atlantic Ocean. The terrain is mountainous, a mix of desert and semidesert plains. The search team includes helicopters, ships, mountain rescue units and divers, the defence official told the