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Two U.S. Navy SEALs were reported missing after boarding the
unflagged vessel in a Jan. 11 operation near the coast of
Somalia. They were declared deceased 10 days later after an
exhaustive search.
"Two Navy SEALs tragically lost their lives in the operation
that thwarted the defendants charged today from allegedly
smuggling Iranian-made weapons that the Houthis could have used
to target American forces and threaten freedom of navigation and
a vital artery for commerce," Deputy Attorney General Lisa
Monaco said in announcing the charges.
The U.S. has carried out a string of strikes against Houthi
targets in Yemen in response to the group's attacks on merchant
ships in the Red Sea that have disrupted global trade and raised
fears of supply bottlenecks.
The Justice Department said the boat's captain, Muhammad
Pahlawan, had been charged in a criminal complaint with
transporting by ship explosives that he knew were intended to
cause death or harm and with lying to the federal agents who
boarded the vessel.
Mohammad Mazhar, Ghufran Ullah and Izhar Muhammad were each
charged with lying to the federal agents. The four men were
carrying Pakistani identification, prosecutors said in the
criminal complaint.
A search of the boat following the raid turned up what are
believed to be Iranian-made advanced weaponry, including
components for medium-range ballistic missiles and anti-ship
cruise missiles.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward and Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Eric
Beech)
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