The US military confirmed the search, saying the soldiers from the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, were undertaking tactical training, the US Army said in a statement.

Officials said the soldiers disappeared during "scheduled tactical training" in an area near Lithuania's border with Belarus, and a search and recovery effort was underway.

Rescuers in Lithuania were digging on Thursday into a peat bog in a military training area to recover the vehicle of four U.S. soldiers missing for two days. The soldiers in the M88 Hercules armoured recovery vehicle were on an exercise at the Pabrade training ground near the Belarus border where U.