- 2 Navy SEALs fell into the water whereas on a mission off the coast of Somalia on Thursday.
- A search and rescue operation remains to be underway.
- The pair have been boarding a vessel when one fell into the water, and the opposite jumped in to assist.
Two Navy SEALs are lacking off the coast of Somalia after falling into the water throughout a nighttime boarding mission on Thursday, US officers instructed the Related Press.
The pair have been climbing aboard a vessel whereas on a mission within the Gulf of Aden when excessive waves knocked one into the ocean.
The second SEAL jumped in after him as a part of Navy SEAL protocol to assist a comrade at risk and each vanished, the AP mentioned.
A search and rescue mission is underway to search out two sailors, the US Central Command mentioned in a assertion Saturday.
The officers spoke to the AP on the situation of anonymity.
The Gulf of Aden has been a focus of Navy exercise in latest weeks. Nonetheless, officers instructed the AP and the Washington Submit that the incident was not associated to the continuing United States response to Houthi-led assaults on delivery within the Purple Sea or to Iran seizing an oil tanker.
The main points of the Navy SEALs’ mission and which vessel they have been making an attempt to board are nonetheless unclear, although it’s identified that pirates roam the coast of Somalia attempting to find cargo ships to hijack.
US forces usually work with different nations on counter-piracy missions within the space, which generally consists of boarding vessels to make sure they’ve correct credentials and will not be transporting illicit items, in accordance with The Washington Submit.
The US Navy has usually performed such interdiction missions to intercept weapons on ships heading for Houthi-controlled Yemen, per AP.
US Central Command mentioned the 2 sailors have been “forward-deployed to the U.S. fifth Fleet (C5F) space of operations supporting all kinds of missions.”
