Author: Idris Ali and Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) – The U.S. military launched an attack that sank an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka and triggered a rescue of dozens of Iranian sailors by the Sri Lankan navy, three U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday.
An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the attack was carried out by a U.S. military submarine.
The US attack triggered a distress call and the Sri Lankan armed forces launched a search and rescue operation. Sri Lankan authorities said they had rescued 32 people so far and pulled several bodies from the sea.
At least 101 people are missing after the ship was attacked by a submarine in an incident off Sri Lanka’s Indian Ocean coast, Sri Lankan navy and defense ministry sources said.
Defense Ministry sources said it was unclear who attacked the ship.
A spokesman for the Sri Lankan Navy said reports that 101 people were missing were untrue and rejected any reports on the cause of the ship’s sinking.
The U.S. attack on Iran’s navy is a central part of the war against Iran that the U.S. launched on Saturday.
On Tuesday, U.S. Central Command said it had sunk 17 Iranian warships and was on track to destroy Iran’s entire navy.
(Reporting by Idris Ali and Phil Stewart; Editing by Andrew Paradise)
