Authorities have ordered an end to the 10-day search and rescue mission to locate the two missing Navy SEALs who were lost following a raid on a ship in Somalia.
The order comes as the United States military on Sunday said that the two operatives are now presumed dead. The U.S. Central Command issued a statement saying that the search was now changed to a recovery effort. Officials have not released the names of the two SEALs as family notifications continue.
The situation comes after ships and aircraft from the U.S., Japan, and Spain continuously searched more than 21,000 square miles. The mission was conducted with the help of the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center, the U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area Command, the University of San Diego - Scripts Institute of Oceanography, and the Office of Naval Research.
The head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Erik Kurilla, said that they mourn the loss of the two Naval Special Warfare warriors and will forever honor their sacrifice and example. He added that they were extending their prayers to the SEALs' families, friends, the U.S. Navy, and the entire Special Operations community, as per Politico.
Officials said that the Jan. 11 raid was made to target an unflagged ship that was believed to be carrying illicit Iranian-made weapons to the Houthi rebels located in Yemen. They added that as the team was boarding the vessel, one of the SEALs went under in the heavy seas while a teammate went in to try and save him.
The commandos were launched from the USS Lewis B. Puller, which is a mobile sea base. They had the support of drones and helicopters as they were loaded onto small special operations combat craft that were driven by a naval special warfare crew to get to the ship.
During the operation, they seized an array of Iranian-made weapons, including cruise and ballistic missile components. These consisted of propulsion and guidance devices and warheads.
Strikes From Houthi Rebels
The situation comes as the U.S. maintains a small military presence in Somalia that focuses on defending against the threat of the al-Shabaab militant group. The latter is an extremist Islamist organization that is responsible for carrying out attacks against the Somali government, according to CNN.
On top of training Somali forces, the United States has also coordinated with the Somali government to carry out strikes against the extremist group. The U.S. Africa Command noted that al-Shabaab is the "largest and most kinetically active al-Qaeda network" in the world.
The latest developments come as the Houthi rebels said that their attacks were made in response to Israel's bombardment in Gaza. The latter is the result of an ongoing conflict with the Hamas militant group in the region.
The raid where the two Navy SEALs were lost was the first one that the American forces conducted since the Houthi rebels began their strikes. The majority of these attacks were successfully repelled by U.S., French, and British warships, said ABC News.
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