2LT International News

ADEN, Yemen – In what was dubbed as its first interdiction of weapons at sea, the U.S. Navy announced on Friday that it had seized over 1,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles being smuggled near Yemen.

The U.S. Navy announced that the assault rifles were found being smuggled by small ships in the Gulf of Aden at a time when a devastating war is ongoing in nearby Yemen.

It said in its statement that the “seizure by the guided-missile destroyer USS Jason Dunham may mark the first such interdiction of weapons at sea bound for Yemen in years for American forces patrolling the region.”

While the military has not revealed whom the weapons were suspected of being smuggled to, the U.S. Navy released a short video that it said was taken on Monday.

The video appeared to show a traditional ship that commonly sails the waters of the Persian Gulf region and just as the vessels bob in the high waves, people on the dhow toss large boxes into the skiff.

On Tuesday, the Bahrain-based U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet said that sailors had boarded the boats and uncovered the arms cache.

The Navy also released images that showed what appeared to be new Kalashnikov rifles wrapped in plastic.

Further, the Navy said in its statement that those that were on the vessels had been handed over to Yemeni forces loyal to its exiled government in Saudi Arabia.

While the U.S. Navy has not released any further details regarding the location in the Gulf of Aden where the seizure was made – experts noted that smuggling of drugs, weapons and charcoal into and out of Somalia by criminal gangs and militant groups remains common.