Death of missing US soldiers in Lithuania not confirmed: NATO

By Ilayda Cakirtekin

ISTANBUL (AA) – NATO on Wednesday clarified the secretary-general's earlier remarks about the missing US soldiers in Lithuania, saying that their deaths have not been confirmed.

“We regret any confusion about remarks Secretary-General Mark Rutte delivered on this today. He was referring to emerging news reports & was not confirming the fate of the missing, which is still unknown,” NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart wrote on X.

She noted that the search for the missing soldiers still continues.

On Tuesday, four US Army soldiers went missing during a routine training exercise in the Baltic nation of Lithuania.

A multinational search operation is currently underway in eastern Pabrade city near the capital Vilnius, according to the US Army Europe and Africa command’s public affairs office.

The vehicle of the soldiers was then found submerged in water, the US Army said Wednesday.

US forces routinely participate in joint training exercises with NATO allies in Lithuania, a small country with a population of some 1.9 million situated between Russia and the Baltic Sea.