Janice R. Andrews
Three U.S. sources have verified that two elite U.S. Navy SEALs are missing as of right now, following a nighttime boarding mission that took place off the coast of Somalia on Thursday. This is a terrifying turn of events.
One of the vessels that the SEALs were scaling under cover of darkness as part of an interdiction mission was unintentionally knocked off by high waves. Following their buddy, the second SEAL jumped in right away, adhering to their established protocol.
Both SEALs have not been found as of yet, which has prompted an immediate search and rescue effort in the Gulf of Aden’s warm waters, the scene of the tragedy. In its active participation in interdiction operations, the U.S. Navy has intercepted weapons on ships headed for Yemen under Houthi control.
This mission is specifically different from Operation Prosperity Guardian, which is a continuous international endeavour to protect commercial vessels in the Red Sea, and from the recent retaliatory strikes that the United States and the United Kingdom carried out in Yemen. A third U.S. official clarified, speaking on the condition of anonymity in order to provide specifics not yet made public, that it has nothing to do with Iran’s seizure of the oil tanker St. Nikolas.
In a statement released on Saturday, the U.S. Central Command said that search and rescue efforts are still in progress to find the missing SEALs. The command made it clear that until the personnel recovery mission is effectively finished, other details regarding the Thursday night event will not be released.
The two sailors were actively supporting a wide range of missions after being forward-deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations. Concerns have been raised about the seriousness of the situation, and the world community is waiting for updates on the ongoing efforts to locate the missing Navy SEALs.
