US Navy SEALs Rescue Hostages Held by Somali Pirates
Source: World News MSNBC.com
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| Jessica Buchanan & Poul Thisted Rescued (Pic: SR) |
In a daring nighttime raid Tuesday, U.S. Navy SEALs rescued two hostages, including one American, who were being held by kidnappers in Somalia, U.S. officials tell NBC News.
American Jessica Buchanan, 32, and a 60-year-old Dane, Poul Thisted, were working for a Danish relief organization in northern Somalia when they were kidnapped last October. U.S. officials described their kidnappers as heavily armed common criminals with no known ties to any organized militant group.
According to the U.S. officials, two teams of Navy SEALs, said to be from the same team that was involved in the death of Osama Bin Laden, landed by helicopter near the compound where the two hostages were being held. As the SEALS approached the compound on foot gunfire broke out, the U.S. officials said, and several of the militants were reportedly killed. There is no word that any of the Americans were wounded.The SEALs gathered up Buchanan and Thisted, loaded them onto the helicopters and flew them to safety at an undisclosed location. The two hostages were not injured during the rescue operation and are reported to be in relatively good condition.
The two had been working for the Danish Refugee Council on a demining project in northern Somalia. The humanitarian group has been providing relief to some 450,000 refugees in the Somalia-Kenya border region.
The aid workers' security guards, hired to protect them, were alleged to have colluded with pirate gangs to arrange the kidnapping.
The timing of Wednesday’s raid may have been made more urgent by a medical condition.
The Danish Refugee Council, the pair's employers, had been trying without success to win the hostages' release through talks with Somali elders.
“One of the hostages has a disease that was very serious and that had to be solved,” Villy Soevndal, Denmark's foreign minister, told the country’s TV2 channel, without giving more details.
News reports at the time said the two were kidnapped Oct. 25 along with a Somali colleague when their three-car convoy was stopped on the way to an airport. A self-proclaimed Somali pirate said they had been kidnapped for ransom by pirates stymied by Western nations' efforts to stop the seizure of ships off the coast. The fate of the Somali colleague was unclear.
The first indication of the rescue operation came Tuesday night in Washington from President Barack Obama himself.
As the president entered the House chambers to give his State of the Union Speech, he pointed to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta standing in the crowd and said, "Leon. Good job tonight. Good job tonight." The president made no mention of the hostage rescue, but finished his speech with a reference to the killing of Osama bin Laden last May in a similar operation to the one conducted by Navy SEALs Tuesday night.
President Obama pointed at Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in the crowd and said, "Good job tonight." According to the White House, President Obama had green lit the operation on Monday. Rescue operations require detailed ground intelligence and rehearsal before being launched, usually around the time that the targets are in their deepest sleep. In Somalia, many pirates are still up chewing khat at that hour, a factor that may have led to the high body count during the rescue, says Somalia Report.
The White House issued an official press release; "Thanks to the extraordinary courage and capabilities of our Special Operations forces, yesterday Jessica Buchanan was rescued and she is on her way home. As commander in chief, I could not be prouder of the troops who carried out this mission, and the dedicated professionals who supported their efforts.... The United States will not tolerate the abduction of our people, and will spare no effort to secure the safety of our citizens and to bring their captors to justice. This is yet another message to the world that the United States of America will stand strongly against any threats to our people."
While U.S. and French forces have intervened to rescue pirate hostages at sea, attacks on pirate bases are very rare. The only U.S. military base in Africa, and France's largest on the continent, are both in neighboring Djibouti.
Galmudug President Mohamed Ahmed Alim told Reuters nine pirates were killed and five captured during the rescue operation near the pirate haven of Haradheere.
Alim was speaking from Hobyo, another pirate base north of Haradheere, where he said he was negotiating the release of an American journalist seized Saturday, also from Galkayo.
"About 12 U.S. helicopters are now at Galkayo. We thank the U.S. Pirates have spoilt the whole region's peace and ethics. They are mafia," Alim said, according to Reuters.
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