US, Moroccan Forces Search for 2 Missing Service Members

A wide-ranging search is underway off southern Morocco after two US service members disappeared during a military deployment there, American military officials say. African Lion, an annual US-led exercise, was taking place at the time, though officials said the disappearance was not connected to the training itself, CBS News reports. The exercise was paused Sunday as US and Moroccan forces shifted aircraft, drones, and other resources to the search effort; the terrain is mountainous, a mix of desert and semidesert plains. The service members' identities were not released.

CBS journalists embedded with US forces near Tan Tan reported that a base-wide head count was conducted around 9 pm Saturday local time and that helicopters could be heard through the night. By Sunday morning, they reported multiple aircraft and drones were operating along the coast where the Sahara meets the Atlantic. The war games exercise, which began in April and is overseen by US Africa Command, also runs across Tunisia, Ghana, and Senegal, per the AP. It is scheduled to end this month. More than 5,000 personnel from over 40 nations, including African partners and NATO allies, training across air, land, sea, cyber, and space operations, with an expanded emphasis on drones, autonomous systems, and artificial intelligence.