Two Navy SEALs are missing after Thursday night mission off coast of Somalia
WASHINGTON — Two US Navy SEALs are missing after conducting a night boarding mission off the coast of Somalia on Thursday, according to three US officials.
The SEALs were on an interdiction mission and were climbing into a ship when one was capsized by high waves. According to their protocol, if one SEAL is overtaken, the next one after them jumps in.
Both SEALs are still missing. A search and rescue mission is underway and waters in the Gulf of Aden, where they were operating, are warm, two US officials said.
The US Navy has conducted regular interdiction missions, intercepting weapons on ships bound for Houthi-controlled Yemen.
The mission was not related to Operation Prosperity Guardian, the ongoing U.S. and international mission to provide protection for commercial vessels in the Red Sea, or the retaliatory strikes carried out by the United States and United Kingdom in Yemen over the past two days. an official said Saturday. It was also not related to Iran’s seizure of the St. Nikolas oil tanker, a third U.S. official said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that have not yet been made public.
In addition to defending ships against launched drones and missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, the U.S. military has also come to the aid of commercial ships that have been targeted by piracy.
On Saturday, U.S. Central Command said in a statement that search and rescue operations were underway to locate the two sailors. The command said it would not release any additional information about Thursday night’s incident until the personnel recovery mission is complete.
The Sailors were forward deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations supporting a wide range of missions.