A search and rescue operation is underway in southern Morocco after two U.S. service members were reported missing off the southern coast of the North African nation during annual training exercises.

A defense official told CBS News that the soldiers were last seen near ocean cliffs near the Cap Draa Training Area. Initial reports indicate they may have fallen into the ocean, the official said. It is believed the incident may have been a hiking accident, and no foul play is suspected, sources told CBS News. The accident was not related to the training exercise, sources told CBS News.

Defense officials confirmed to CBS News both missing service members were U.S. Army soldiers. The names of the soldiers and further details have not yet been released

Ground teams, aerial assets and maritime elements from the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces, U.S. Armed Forces, and other African Lion participants are involved in the search, the defense official said.

The training exercise, known as African Lion, ground to a halt Sunday as the U.S. and Moroccan assets were redirected to the search and rescue operation, officials told a CBS News crew on the scene.

The CBS News reporters, embedded with the U.S. military, were in their tents Saturday evening at 9 p.m. local time when a base-wide head-count was conducted. Helicopters were heard throughout the night as the search began, and on Sunday morning, the reporters observed various planes, helicopters and drones in the area around the coast.

African Lion is the largest annual joint military exercise led by AFRICOM, one of the U.S. Department of Defense's 11 unified combatant commands. It brings together thousands of troops from the United States, African partner nations, and NATO allies to train for modern warfare across land, air, sea, cyber, and space domains.

This year's exercise involves more than 7,000 personnel from over 30 nations, with a growing focus on advanced technologies, including drones, autonomous systems, and artificial intelligence, according to the Associated Press.

The exercise occurs in a vast desert where the Sahara Desert meets the Atlantic Ocean near the Cap Draa Training Area, outside the city of Tan Tan.

In 2012, two U.S. Marines were killed during a helicopter crash while taking part in African Lion, according to the Associated Press. Two others were injured in the incident.

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