U.S. sub sinks Iranian 'warship' off Sri Lanka, killing 87 and expanding war zone
Sri Lanka rescues 32, recovers dead bodies
By Uditha Jayasinghe, Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart
March 4, 20267:27 AM GMT
GALLE, Sri Lanka/WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) - A U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, killing dozens of sailors and dramatically widening Washington's pursuit of the Iranian navy.
Sri Lanka's deputy foreign minister identified the warship as the frigate IRIS Dena, and said it was heading back to Iran from an eastern Indian port.
The attack happened hundreds of miles across the Indian Ocean from the Gulf, where U.S. and Israeli forces are striking Iran and Tehran is retaliating with missile and drone attacks.
"An American submarine sank an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters," U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at the Pentagon. "Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death."
Bodies of Iranian sailors are taken out of a van and moved to the mortuary at Karapitiya Hospital after a submarine attack on the Iranian military ship Iris Dena off Sri Lanka, in Galle, Sri Lanka, March 4, 2026. REUTERS/Thilina Kaluthotage
Hospital authorities in the Sri Lankan port city of Galle said 87 bodies were brought in by military rescuers who responded to an early morning distress call.
Another 32 were rescued and were being treated at hospital and about 60 people were likely unaccounted for from an estimated 180 people on board, Sri Lankan authorities said.
'PEOPLE WERE FLOATING IN THE WATER'
A Pentagon video purporting to have captured the attack showed the warship being hit by a huge explosion which blew apart the rear of the vessel, lifting it from the water, and caused it to begin sinking from the stern.
The exact date when the video was filmed and the type of warship could not be verified. However, the deck shape and mast of the vessel in the video matched file imagery of the same type of warship as the IRIS Dena.
The Iranian vessel had taken part in a naval exercise organised by India in the Bay of Bengal from February 18 to 25, according to the drill's website.
Sri Lanka said it had launched a search-and-rescue operation to locate survivors after receiving a distress call.
SHIP TOOK PART IN NAVAL DRILL ORGANISED BY INDIA
Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe, Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart, Donia Chiacu, Michelle Nichol and Saurabh Sharma; writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar and YP Rajesh; Editing by Toby Chopra, Jon Boyle and Hugh Lawson
ஒத்தவை:
சிரேஷ்ட ஊடகவியலாளர் இக்பால் அத்தாஸ் காலமானார்
