Washington, United States:
The deaths of two US Navy SEALs during an operation earlier this year to seize Iranian weapons destined for Houthi rebels in Yemen were “preventable”, an investigation into the incident has found.
During the operation – which saw elite forces board a ship off the coast of Somalia in January – one SEAL slipped and fell into the water, while a second jumped in to help him.
“Burdened by the weight of each individual's equipment, neither their physical capabilities nor additional emergency flotation devices, if activated, were sufficient to maintain them on the surface,” said the Navy investigation, which said the incident was “characterized by systemic problems ” and was “preventable.”
It turned out that the SEALs were “not well trained in the use of their emergency equipment,” with some operators saying they had only used their flotation systems once, and others not at all.
Maintenance of the systems also did not meet Navy standards, with the investigation finding that it is possible that the SEALs “attempted to activate their emergency equipment but were somehow unable to do so.”
It noted that the SEALs had not conducted buoyancy testing in theater, where conditions were different from training, and that there was conflicting guidance on buoyancy requirements.
The US military conducted a 10-day search for the two SEALs before declaring them dead.
Yemen's Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November 2023 in attacks they say are in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza – a significant international security challenge that threatens a key shipping route.
The United States has carried out regular airstrikes on the Houthis in an effort to reduce their ability to target shipping and has also tried to seize weapons before they reach the rebels, but their attacks have persisted.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Our staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)