The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has clarified comments on four missing U.S. soldiers.
“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,” Acting NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte previously told reporters of the soldiers, “This is still early news, so we do not know the details. This is really terrible news and our thoughts are with the families and loved ones.”
The vehicle the missing soldiers were operating, an M88 Hercules, has been discovered.
“The vehicle was discovered submerged in a body of water in a training area after a search by U.S. Army, Lithuanian Armed Forces and other Lithuanian authorities,” U.S. Army Europe and Africa said. “Recovery efforts are underway by U.S. Army and Lithuanian Armed Forces and civilian agencies.”
National Security and Defense Committee chairman Giedrimas Jeglinskas said after the soldiers were reported missing, “We truly appreciate and are grateful for the US presence here. We have created all the conditions for them to increase their military readiness.”
“Such events do indeed occur during large-scale joint military exercises, not only among the Americans, but also in other armies. The aim is to reduce the likelihood of such things, but such things are not impossible. If there was some kind of accident, lessons are learned, and safety requirements are increased,” he stated.
