The United States military says two service members participating in a multinational military exercise in Morocco are missing.

In a statement on Sunday, its African Command (AFRICOM) said the pair went missing on Saturday close to the Cap Draa Training Area near the city of Tan Tan in the country’s southwest.

“The incident remains under investigation and the search is on-going,” it added in a statement.

AFRICOM said the US, Morocco and other countries taking part in the annual African Lion exercise have launched search and rescue operations involving ground, air and maritime assets.

African Lion is the largest annual joint military exercise that the US takes part in on the continent.

It is hosted by Morocco, Ghana, Senegal and Tunisia, and its stated aim is to strengthen “interoperability among participants and build readiness to respond to crises and contingencies in Africa and around the world”.