Two U.S. Navy SEALs lost in nighttime seas during a raid on a small boat off Somalia were declared dead Sunday.
The 10-day mission has shifted from search and rescue to recovery, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
"We regret to announce that after a 10-day exhaustive search, our two missing U.S. Navy SEALs have not been located and their status has been changed to deceased," it said.
The two were not identified, and CENTCOM said no further information would be made immediately available “out of respect” for their families.
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Two U.S. defense officials said one of the SEALs had tried to board the vessel amid rough seas and fell into the water. The second dove in after the first, as is protocol, the officials said.
The vessel, known as a dhow, was carrying "Iranian advanced conventional weapons" as the raid took place Jan. 11, CENTCOM said Sunday.
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