Two U.S. service members missing in Morocco fell off cliff during exercise

Two U.S. service members were reported missing near the Cap Draa Training Area, near Tan Tan in southwestern Morocco, after falling off a cliff into the ocean in what is being described as a hiking accident. A U.S. official said the pair had been in the country for training exercises, and a search-and-rescue operation was underway as investigators tried to determine exactly how the fall happened.

The missing service members were taking part in African Lion 2026, U.S. Africa Command’s largest annual joint exercise. The drill is hosted across Morocco, Ghana, Senegal and Tunisia and brings together more than 10,000 participants from more than twenty nations, including NATO contingents. In Morocco, the exercise includes field training, planning exercises, live-fire drills and humanitarian civic assistance activities.

African Lion has long been tied to the U.S.-Morocco defense relationship, which both governments have used to build interoperability and readiness across North Africa. The State Department says Morocco is a vital U.S. partner on regional security issues, including counterterrorism and efforts to promote stability. U.S. Africa Command has said the exercise has been led for years by the U.S. and Moroccan militaries.

The incident immediately raised questions about the circumstances surrounding the service members’ movements away from the training area and the safety protocols in place during the multinational exercise. The details about the cliff and ocean location emerged after the initial missing-person report and remain under investigation, with military and Moroccan officials continuing recovery efforts in an area that is central to one of the U.S. military’s most visible partnership exercises on the continent.

The episode cuts against the highly structured image of African Lion, which is designed to test coordination among forces from multiple countries while supporting broader security cooperation with Morocco. For the families waiting for answers, the focus now is on the search and on the findings that will follow about how an exercise meant to strengthen readiness ended in a loss still unfolding off Morocco’s coast.