NATO has clarified that four US soldiers remain missing in Lithuania, with their fate still unknown.
March 26, The Dallas Express reported that four US soldiers were confirmed dead by the alliance’s secretary general following involvement in a NATO training drill in Lithuania, near the border with Belarus. However, the organization has since retracted the statement and says a search for the soldiers remains ongoing.
“On the 4 US soldiers missing in a military exercise in Lithuania, the search is ongoing. We regret any confusion about remarks @SecGenNATO delivered on this today. He was referring to emerging news reports & was not confirming the fate of the missing, which is still unknown,” NATO Spokesperson Allison Hart posted on X on March 26, referring to the statement made by the organization’s Secretary General, Mark Rutte.
The US military says the Hercules armored vehicle the soldiers were traveling in was submerged in a body of water. However, as of the morning of March 27, recovery of the vehicle was still ongoing.
“There is currently no confirmed information and no bodies have been found. It would therefore be simply wrong to claim that the soldiers are dead,” said Lithuania’s Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene, per DW Global Media.
According to the US Army, the four soldiers from the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division were conducting “scheduled tactical training at the time of the incident.”
Lithuanian and foreign troops have been scouring the search area using air force helicopters. The country’s state border guard agents have also assisted with the search.
“I would like to personally thank the Lithuanian armed forces and first responders who quickly came to our aid in our search operations,” said Lieutenant General Charles Costanza, the V Corps commander.
Lithuania currently hosts over 1,000 US troops in the country.