Two members of the Navy SEALs, the Navy's quintessential special operations unit, are missing after a night operation off the coast of Somalia last Thursday. The Associated Press, which reported this news, cites three anonymous Pentagon sources.
According to these sources, the military was carrying out a mission to prevent a shipment of Iranian weapons from making it to the Houthi rebels in Yemen. At the time of their disappearance they were working in the Gulf of Aden, near the Strait of Bab al Mandeb, near the entrance to the Red Sea.
As they were boarding the vessel, the waves hit the first member of the special forces, knocking him into the water. According to AP sources, the second soldier jumped into the water to try to save him, per the unit's protocol.
The United States Central Command confirmed the news with a statement in which it said that two Navy sailors were missing after carrying out a mission in those waters. The Central Command announced that the forces present in the area are carrying out search tasks. It did not offer further details, citing security reasons. "The sailors were deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet (C5F) area of operations, in support of a wide variety of missions," the statement explains.
Tensions in the Red Sea
On Monday, authorities reported a new serious incident in the Red Sea. Houthi rebels launched a ballistic missile at a commercial cargo ship from Yemen. The affected ship was flying the flag of the Marshall Islands and was hit by the projectile, causing slight damage but not preventing it from continuing on its route.
Since the Houthi rebels threaten to disrupt the global supply route that passes through the Red Sea towards the Suez Canal, an international coalition led by the United States and the United Kingdom deployed a maritime force in the Red Sea to protect the sea route.
