This map shows the Kenya-Somalia coastline and disputed area. Photo / AP
Two United States Navy Seals are missing after conducting a night-time boarding mission on Thursday off the coast of Somalia, according to three US 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. A search and rescue mission is under way 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, intercepting 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 Saturday. It was also not related to the seizure of the oil tanker St Nikolas by Iran, a third US official said.
