WASHINGTON (AP) – Two United States (US) Navy SEALs are missing after conducting a nighttime boarding mission on Thursday off the coast of Somalia.
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. A search and rescue mission is underway and the waters in the Gulf of Aden, where they were operating, are warm, two of the US officials said.
The US Navy has conducted regular interdiction missions, where they have intercepted weapons on ships that were bound for Houthi-controlled Yemen.
The mission was not related to Operation Prosperity Guardian, the ongoing US and international mission to provide protection to commercial vessels in the Red Sea, or the retaliatory strikes that the US and the United Kingdom have conducted in Yemen over the past two days, the official said on Saturday. It was also not related to the seizure of the oil tanker St Nikolas by Iran, a third US official said.
In a statement on Saturday, US Central Command said that search and rescue operations are currently ongoing.
The command said it would not release additional information on the Thursday night incident until the personnel recovery mission is complete.
