Two US Navy SEALs missing off coast of Somalia after night rescue mission ends tragically

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The two U.S. Navy sailors who were reported missing after falling into water while conducting a nighttime boarding mission Thursday off the coast of Somalia, have been identified as U.S. Navy SEALs, according to the U.S. Central Command. 

The pair were climbing aboard a vessel while on a mission in the Gulf of Aden when high waves knocked one into the sea.

The second SEAL jumped in after the other as part of Navy SEAL protocol to help a partner in distress and both vanished, The Associated Press said.

Both SEALs are still missing and a search and rescue mission continues.

TWO U.S NAVY SAILORS MISSING OFF COAST OF SOMALIA: CENTRAL COMMAND

A plane comes into land over a secured beach area near the runway of Aden Adde International Airport at sun set on September 4, 2022 in Mogadishu, Somalia. (Ed Ram/Getty Images)

The waters in the Gulf of Aden, where they were operating, are warm, U.S. officials told The AP. 

Officials also told The AP that the incident was not related to Operation Prosperity Guardian, the ongoing U.S. and international mission to provide protection to commercial vessels in the Red Sea, or the retaliatory strikes that the United States and the United Kingdom have conducted in Yemen over the past two days. 

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Somali maritime police patrol the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Puntland State, Somalia, Nov. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Jackson Njehia)

The incident was also not related to Iran seizing an oil tanker, officials said. 

The details of the Navy SEALs’ mission and which vessel they were trying to board are still unclear.

In a statement made on Saturday, the U.S. Central Command said it would not release additional information on the Thursday night incident until the personnel recovery mission is complete.

In this image provided on Friday Jan. 12, 2024 by the UK Ministry of Defence an RAF Typhoon aircraft returns to base at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, after striking targets in Yemen. The U.S. and British militaries bombed more than a dozen sites used by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen late on Thursday Jan. 11, in a massive retaliatory strike using warship- and submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets, U.S. officials said.  (Sgt Lee Goddard, UK Ministry of Defence via AP)

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U.S. officials and the U.S. Navy did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.