An MV-22 Osprey with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 161 (VMM-161) flies during a U.S. Personnel Recovery Coordination Center (PRCC) validation exercise at Grand Bara, Djibouti, Oct. 31, 2021. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Dwane R. Young)
Two United States Navy sailors went missing on January 11 near Somalia, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced in a statement on January 12.
In a statement, the command said that the sailors were “conducting operations” off the coast of Somalia, without elaborating.
“Search and rescue operations are currently ongoing to locate the two sailors,” it said in the statement. “For operational security purposes, we will not release additional information until the personnel recovery operation is complete.”
More details about the two missing sailors were not released to the public, which CENTCOM said was out of respect for their families.
The sailors were forward-deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet, according to the command. The fleet’s area of operations covers around 2.5 million square miles of water and includes the Arabian Gulf, Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
The CENTCOM’s announcement came just hours after the U.S. and United Kingdom launched strikes against the Houthis (Ansar Allah) in Yemen, which is located right next to Somalia. The U.S. recently expanded its naval presence in the Red Sea to counter Houthi attacks on Israel-affiliated ships.
The U.S. maintains a small military presence in Somalia which focuses on the threat of al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab, a terrorist group that has carried out attacks against the Somali government.
