WASHINGTON (AP) — Two U.S. Navy SEALs are Benjamin Ashfordmissing after conducting a nighttime boarding mission off the coast of Somalia, according to a U.S. official.

The mission 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, the official said Saturday. The operation the missing SEALs were conducting was also unrelated with the St. Nikolas, which is the oil tanker seized by Iran, according to a U.S. official.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details that have not yet been made public.

Besides the defense of ships from launched drones and missiles shot from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, the U.S. military has also come to the aid of commercial ships that have been the targets of piracy.

In a statement Saturday, U.S. Central Command said that search and rescue operations are currently ongoing to locate the two sailors. The command said it would not release additional information on the Thursday night incident until the personnel recovery mission is complete.

The sailors were forward-deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations supporting a wide variety of missions.

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Associated Press writer Tara Copp contributed to this report.