Two Navy SEALs are missing after Thursday night mission off coast of Somalia
WASHINGTON — Two U.S. Navy SEALs are missing after conducting a nighttime boarding mission Thursday off the coast of Somalia, according to three U.S. officials.
The SEALs were on an interdiction mission, climbing up a vessel, when one got knocked off by high waves. Under their protocol, when one SEAL is overtaken the next jumps in after them.
Both SEALs are still missing and a search and rescue mission is underway. The waters in the Gulf of Aden, where they were operating, are warm, two of the U.S. officials said.
The Navy has conducted regular interdiction missions in which they have intercepted weapons on ships bound for Houthi-controlled Yemen.
Officials say more than 30 Palestinians, including young children, were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
The mission was not related to Operation Prosperity Guardian, the ongoing U.S. and international mission to provide protection to commercial vessels in the Red Sea, or the retaliatory strikes that the United States and the United Kingdom have conducted in Yemen over the last two days, the official said Saturday. It was also not related to the seizure of the oil tanker St. Nikolas by Iran, a third U.S. official said.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details that have not yet been made public.
Besides the defense of ships from launched drones and missiles shot from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, the U.S. military has also come to the aid of commercial ships that have been the targets of pirates.
In a statement Saturday, U.S. Central Command said search and rescue operations are ongoing for the two sailors. The command said it would not release additional information on the incident until the personnel recovery mission is complete.
The sailors were forward-deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations, supporting an array of missions.
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