Media Wire Express Correspondent
Two US Navy sailors have been reported missing at sea while conducting operations off the coast of Somalia, the US military said Friday. The two sailors went missing Thursday evening, US Central Command said in a brief statement.
“Search and rescue operations are currently ongoing to locate the two sailors. For operational security purposes, we will not release additional information until the personnel recovery operation is complete,” it said.
The sailors were “forward-deployed” to the US 5th Fleet area of operations “supporting a wide variety of missions.”
The 5th Fleet’s area of operations covers about 2.5 million square miles of water and includes The Gulf, Red Sea, Gulf of Oman and parts of the Indian Ocean, according to the military’s website.
US forces have long operated in Somalia in coordination with and on behalf of the government, mostly conducting regular aerial strikes to support official forces fighting extremist Al-Shabaab rebels.
Washington has designated Al-Shabaab as a terrorist organization.
According to the US Africa Command, Al-Shabaab is “the largest and most kinetically active Al-Qaeda network in the world and has proved both its will and capability to attack US forces and threaten US security interests.”
The Central Command has not released information about what the sailors had been doing when they went missing other than to say they were “forward-deployed” to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet area of operations and were “supporting a wide variety of missions.” It’s unclear what vessel the sailors were attempting to board.
“Out of respect for the families affected, we will not release further information at this time,” Friday’s statement said.
The US maintains a small military presence in Somalia which focuses on the threat of the Al Shabaab militant group, an extremist Islamist organization that has carried out attacks against the Somali government. The US recognizes al-Shabaab as a terrorist organization.
In addition to training Somali forces, the US has also coordinated with the Somali government to carry out strikes against Al-Shabaab.
According to US Africa Command, “Al-Shabaab is the largest and most kinetically active al-Qaeda network in the world and has proved both its will and capability to attack U.S. forces and threaten U.S. security interests.”
Source: CNN
