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American military personnel recovered Iranian-made missile warheads and related components during a ship-boarding mission near Somalia last week that disrupted the weapons’ suspected transit to militants in Yemen but left two elite Navy SEALs lost at sea, U.S. officials said Monday.
A massive search-and-rescue operation is ongoing in the Gulf of Aden, where the incident occurred Thursday. The SEALs moved to board the vessel, described by one official as a dhow lacking proper identification, amid suspicions that there were arms on board.
As The Washington Post and other media previously reported, Thursday’s operation took place in rough seas. When one of the SEALs slipped from a ladder while attempting to climb aboard the dhow, the second, having witnessed their comrade fall into the water, dove in to help, officials have said. Both were swept away by the powerful swells. Neither has been publicly identified.
As rescue operations began, other troops carried out a search of the boat, which had a crew of about a dozen, the official said. They were taken into custody, along with the weapons components, and the boat was sunk, the official said. This person, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military mission.
The Associated Press first reported those and other details of last week’s weapons seizure.
The episode has underscored a persistent challenge facing the Biden administration and its international partners as they vow to hold Yemen’s Houthis — and the militant group’s chief backer, Iran — accountable for a steep rise in attacks that have significantly disrupted commercial shipping in the region. U.S. and British forces struck dozens of Houthi targets in Yemen last week, hoping to discourage additional attacks, but the Pentagon acknowledged afterward that the group will probably remain a threat.
The Houthis have said that their actions are in protest of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. The Biden administration has not ruled out future military action in Yemen but has sought to tread carefully, fearful that an overreaction could engulf the Middle East in violence.
U.S. forces in the region reported separately Monday that an American-owned container ship was hit with a ballistic missile in the Houthis’ latest alleged provocation. The ship sustained no “significant damage” and its crew was uninjured, officials said in a statement. A missile launched from Yemen earlier in the day came down before it reached the coast.
Senior U.S. officials blame Tehran for having “aided and abetted” the crisis, which has principally affected commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea. The Houthis, officials contend, would be incapable of threatening these shipping routes without Iran’s technological and intelligence support.
The missile warheads and other components intercepted last week originated from Iran and were bound for transfer to another boat off the Somali coast before continuing on to Yemen, one official said.
The SEALs launched their mission from the USS Lewis B. Puller, which acts as a floating base, and headed toward the dhow in a smaller craft, this person said. The dhow’s crew lacked official paperwork, which allowed the U.S. boarding team to search the vessel.
Interdicting suspicious or adversarial vessels, known as visit, board, search and seizure, or VBSS, is among the most difficult and dangerous missions undertaken by highly trained troops. Such operations typically involve approaching the suspect vessel in smaller boats and using ladders and climbing tools to get aboard, which can be complicated by violent waves and hostile crew members. U.S. forces routinely partner with other nations’ militaries to blunt piracy and weapons smuggling in the region.
Though it has been days since the two SEALs went missing, the Pentagon remains hopeful that they will be found alive. The gulf’s waters are warm, officials have said, noting that powerful swells and exhaustion are more of a concern than hypothermia.