The American military stated on Sunday that two US Navy SEALs who vanished during a mission to intercept Iranian weaponry headed for the Huthi rebels in Yemen had been officially declared dead. The hunt for them lasted for ten days.
When the elite special operations men boarded a dhow off the coast of Somalia on January 11 to recover Iranian-made missile components, the Central Command (CENTCOM) had earlier stated that two SEALs who were reported drowned at sea were part of the operation.
“We regret to announce that after a 10-day exhaustive search, our two missing US Navy SEALs have not been located and their status has been changed to deceased,” CENTCOM stated in a statement.
According to CENTCOM, the recent acquisition of missile parts was the first instance of the Huthis seizing deadly, Iranian-supplied modern conventional weaponry since the attacks against merchant ships began in November 2023.
Around that time, the Huthis launched attacks on ships in the Red Sea, claiming they had ties to Israel and that they were supporting the Palestinians in Gaza. The United States and Britain retaliated by striking a number of rebel objectives.
The Huthis have continued their ship attacks in spite of these measures because they view British and American interests as legitimate targets. A considerable amount of trade normally passing through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait is affected by this ongoing conflict, causing considerable detours around Africa as a result of rebel activity in the Red Sea.
