US officials have publicly said the mission that killed two SEALs last month near Somalia was to stop a ship “transporting Iranian weapons.”
Details of the operation that killed two U.S. Navy SEALs off the coast of Somalia last month were made public on February 22, after a U.S. court declassified the indictments of four suspects arrested during the mission. According to the indictments, all of the suspects held Pakistani passports and were on board a ship that was transporting Iranian-made missile components to Houthi forces in Yemen.
The US military released images of Iranian-made missile components intercepted en route to Yemen, but did not disclose the time. Photo: USCENTCOM
Prosecutors said the interception took place on the night of January 11 in the Arabian Sea, near the coast of Somalia. The two SEALs killed in the action were Christopher J. Chambers and Nathan Gage Ingram.
As the commandos were boarding the suspect ship from a taser, Chambers slipped as a wave hit the hull and fell into the sea. Ingram jumped into the water to rescue his comrade, but both men later disappeared.
"Two Navy SEALs were killed during the operation, preventing the defendants from illegally transporting Iranian-made weapons. If these weapons had reached the Houthis, they would have targeted US forces and threatened freedom of navigation and vital trade routes," said US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.
Ms Monaco also warned that the "flow of missiles and advanced weapons" from Iran to the Houthi forces in Yemen is threatening the people and interests of the US and its partners in the region.
According to the indictment, the US Navy discovered 14 people on a ship carrying weapons on the night of January 11 off the coast of Somalia. They also found many components for medium-range ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles. The entire crew of the suspect ship was taken to the USS Lewis B. Puller, then transferred to the US state of Virginia.
The US Department of Justice later indicted four of the suspects, including Muhammad Pahlawan, Mohammad Mazhar, Ghufran Ullah and Izhar Muhammad, all of whom had Pakistani citizenship. Pahlawan was accused of masterminding the smuggling of advanced missile components and of making false statements to the US Coast Guard during a ship inspection.
The remaining 10 sailors on the weapons ship continue to be held in the US as witnesses in the case. Some sailors told the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that the ship departed from Iran, but others confirmed that the ship originated from Pakistan.
Some sailors said crew members were in regular contact with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Tehran has not commented on the information released by US officials. Meanwhile, US Attorney General Merrick Garland stressed that his agency will "use all legal authority" to deal with any individuals who assist in the transfer of weapons from Iran to the Houthi forces, Hamas and any armed groups that may threaten the security of the US and its allies.
Thanh Danh (According to AP )
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