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Somalia: Western hostages freed in US military raid | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Two foreign aid workers kidnapped in Somalia three months ago have been freed in a rare US military raid there. | |
US officials have confirmed that elite US Navy Seals were dropped into Somalia to carry out the overnight operation which resulted in a shoot-out. | |
A number of the captors were killed, according to local officals. However the two hostages were freed unharmed, a Danish humanitarian group says. | |
The two - a US woman and a Danish man - were seized on 25 October. | The two - a US woman and a Danish man - were seized on 25 October. |
American Jessica Buchanan, 32, and Poul Thisted, 60, of Denmark had been working for the Danish Demining Group when they were abducted by gunmen near the north-central town of Galkayo, hundreds of kilometres from the capital Mogadishu. | |
At the time of the raid they were being kept about 40km east of the town of Adado and 100km south of Galkayo - in a semi-autonomous area controlled by a local administration opposed to the Islamist al-Shabab militants but which has no official links to the transitional government in the capital, Mogadishu. | |
US officials said the captors were not al-Shabab, "these were criminals". | |
Other remaining hostages in Somalia include a UK tourist and two Spanish medics who were abducted in neighbouring Kenya. | Other remaining hostages in Somalia include a UK tourist and two Spanish medics who were abducted in neighbouring Kenya. |
'Safe location' | 'Safe location' |
A US official has said the Seals parachuted from a plane into an area near the compound where the two hostages were being held near Adado. | |
Shots were fired as the team approached the compound, but there were no US casualties, say US officials. | |
Local officials said that eight or nine of the captors were killed. | |
The rescue team was on the ground for about an hour and the raid was over by 03:00 (24:00 GMT). | |
Afterwards, the two freed hostages and the Seals left the area by helicopter for the nearby tiny Horn of Africa state of Djibouti, where the US has a military presence. | |
The Danish Refugee Council, which had been involved in efforts to free them via mediation, said they were unharmed and "at a safe location". | The Danish Refugee Council, which had been involved in efforts to free them via mediation, said they were unharmed and "at a safe location". |
Denmark's foreign minister has suggested that a rescue had become a pressing issue because one of the hostages had a "very serious" disease, although no further details were given. | |
The BBC's Steve Kingstone in Washington said the first hint of the successful operation appeared to come from US President Barack Obama himself - as he prepared to give the State of the Union address, he turned to his Defence Secretary Leon Panetta and said "Good job tonight." | The BBC's Steve Kingstone in Washington said the first hint of the successful operation appeared to come from US President Barack Obama himself - as he prepared to give the State of the Union address, he turned to his Defence Secretary Leon Panetta and said "Good job tonight." |
The aid workers have been taken to Camp Lemonnier, in Djibouti, which "serves as a key location from which US and coalition forces operate in the Horn of Africa" according to its website. | |
About 2,500 personnel - including civilians and defence contractors - are based there as well as armour, fighters and drones. | About 2,500 personnel - including civilians and defence contractors - are based there as well as armour, fighters and drones. |
Correspondents say that following the killing in 1993 of 19 US soldiers and the wounding of 70 others in Mogadishu, there is no appetite for full-scale US ground operations in Somalia. |