WASHINGTON: Two US Navy sailors have been reported lacking at sea whereas conducting operations off the coast of Somalia, the US army stated on Friday (Jan 13).
The 2 sailors went lacking on Thursday night, US Central Command stated in a quick assertion.
“Search and rescue operations are at the moment ongoing to find the 2 sailors. For operational safety functions, we is not going to launch further data till the personnel restoration operation is full,” it stated.
The sailors have been “forward-deployed” to the US fifth Fleet space of operations “supporting all kinds of missions”.
The fifth Fleet’s space of operations covers about 2.5 million sq. miles of water and contains the Gulf, Pink Sea, Gulf of Oman and components of the Indian Ocean, in accordance with the army’s web site.
US forces have lengthy operated in Somalia in coordination with and on behalf of the federal government, largely conducting common aerial strikes to assist official forces combating Al-Shabaab rebels.
Washington has designated Al-Shabaab as a terrorist organisation.
In line with the US Africa Command, Al-Shabaab is “the biggest and most kinetically lively Al-Qaeda community on the planet and has proved each its will and functionality to assault US forces and threaten US safety pursuits”.
