The United States identified two Navy SEALs who were killed in an operation to seize weapons being shipped to the Houthis by Iran.

Two Navy SEAL Was pronounced dead over the weekend after an accident in Arabian Sea Identified earlier this month on Monday Christopher J Chambers37 years, and nathan gage ingram27.

Despite the tragedy that resulted, Iranian-made missile components were seized after the two disappeared in rough seas during a night-time boarding mission, US military officials said.

weapons, according to United States Central Command, was intended to resupply Yemen’s Houthi movement. Since November, the group has attacked dozens of merchant ships off the Arabian Peninsula, significantly disrupting commercial shipping in the region and prompting an offensive by the United States and other countries to thwart the attacks and weaken the Houthis’ arsenal. The campaign has been started.

Officials have said Tehran, which arms the group and appears to have provided some assistance in the targeting, is complicit in the violence.

Chambers, of Maryland, and Ingram, of Texas, were attempting to board a suspected smuggling vessel off the coast of Somalia when the accident occurred on January 11. Authorities said one fell off a ladder, the other jumped into the sea after him, and both were quickly swept away by the waves.

Search and rescue efforts were called off on Sunday after 10 days and the people were declared dead.

It is still unclear how Chambers and Ingram were lost so quickly. According to a defense official familiar with the operation, the mission was carried out with drones and helicopters already in the air to provide surveillance, and sailors wearing flotation devices. No one on board the ship showed any hostility, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the incident.

It is not clear that seal They were carrying other equipment that could help in rescue operations, such as infrared lights or strobe lights, which US troops often use on missions to help them be easily identified by friendly forces. The Navy said the investigation is ongoing.

The Navy said both were assigned to SEAL units based on the West Coast, part of Naval Special Warfare Group 1. According to brief biographies published by the service, Chambers enlisted in 2012. Ingram was enlisted in 2019.

Acknowledging the SEALs’ deaths in a statement early Monday, President Biden called them “some of our nation’s finest who dedicated their lives to protecting their fellow Americans.”

© 2024, The Washington Post