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RABAT, Morocco — <\/span>Two U.S. 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. <\/p>\n The U.S., Morocco and other countries participating in the African Lion exercise have launched a search and rescue operation, AFRICOM said. <\/p>\n \u201cThe incident remains under investigation and the search is ongoing,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n The incident happened on Saturday at about 9 p.m., 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. <\/p>\n The war games exercise started in April and runs across four countries, including Tunisia, Ghana and Senegal. It is scheduled to end in early May. <\/p>\n The command did not state what unit or branch of the military the missing service members belong to. The Associated Press has requested clarification. <\/p>\n The exercise began in Tunisia with active-duty members of different branches of the U.S. military, including the National Guard, Army Reserve, Air Force, and the Marine Corps. <\/p>\n In all, over 7,000 personnel from more than 30 nations are participating across the four host countries. <\/p>\n African Lion, which has been running since 2004, is the largest U.S. annual joint military exercise on the continent and usually features high-ranking military officials from the U.S. and its top African allies.<\/p>\n U.S. military officials have said the annual multinational engagement serves as a venue for strengthening regional security cooperation and refining the readiness of participating forces for global crises.<\/p>\n In 2012, two U.S. Marines were killed and two others injured during a helicopter crash in Morocco\u2019s southern city of Agadir while taking part in African Lion. <\/p>\n Morocco is a major ally of the United States in a troubled region. Since 2020, military officers disillusioned with their governments\u2019 records of stemming violence have overthrown democratically elected governments in Mali<\/a>, Burkina Faso<\/a> and Niger<\/a> and began distancing themselves from Western powers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n