French forces with US aid seize weapons said to be bound for Yemen

The U.S. military’s eyes in the sky helped French special operations forces seize thousands of rifles and anti-tank missiles on a vessel in the waters of the Middle East, defense officials said Thursday.

The interdiction took place Jan. 15 in the Gulf of Oman and included more than 3,000 assault rifles, 578,000 rounds of ammunition and 23 anti-tank guided missiles apparently bound for rebels in Yemen, an earlier U.S. Central Command statement said Wednesday.

French troops seized the weapons with the assistance of U.S. aerial surveillance, said an official with knowledge of the operation who was unauthorized to speak publicly.

The seizure is one of four announced interdictions over the past two months totaling more than 5,000 weapons and 1.6 million rounds of ammunition, the statement said.

The weapons were seized along routes in the Gulf of Oman often used to traffic weapons from Iran to Yemen, according to CENTCOM.