NATO chief triggers confusion over ‘dead’ American troops

Four US Army soldiers mysteriously disappeared during a training exercise in Lithuania near the Belarusian border on Tuesday. The Pentagon has yet to confirm their fate, after NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte triggered confusion by expressing condolences to their families.

The soldiers, from the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division based at Fort Stewart, Georgia, were conducting “scheduled tactical training” at the General Silvestras Zukauskas training ground in Pabrade, Lithuania when they went missing, prompting a large-scale search and rescue operation.

“The M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle the four missing US Soldiers were operating during a training exercise has been located in Lithuania,” US Army Europe and Africa said in its latest update on Wednesday…