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| Luke Somers, American Hostage, Is Killed During Rescue Attempt in Yemen | Luke Somers, American Hostage, Is Killed During Rescue Attempt in Yemen |
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| SANA, Yemen — United States commandos stormed a village in southern Yemen early Saturday in an effort to free an American photojournalist held hostage by Al Qaeda, but the raid ended badly with the kidnappers killing the American and a South African teacher held with him, United States officials said. | SANA, Yemen — United States commandos stormed a village in southern Yemen early Saturday in an effort to free an American photojournalist held hostage by Al Qaeda, but the raid ended badly with the kidnappers killing the American and a South African teacher held with him, United States officials said. |
| President Obama, in a statement, said the hostages had been “murdered” by militants belonging to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula during the rescue operation, which he had approved just Friday. | President Obama, in a statement, said the hostages had been “murdered” by militants belonging to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula during the rescue operation, which he had approved just Friday. |
| A senior United States official said that the American, Luke Somers, 33, was badly wounded when commandos reached him. By the time Mr. Somers was flown to a United States naval ship in the region, he had died from his injuries, the official said Saturday. | A senior United States official said that the American, Luke Somers, 33, was badly wounded when commandos reached him. By the time Mr. Somers was flown to a United States naval ship in the region, he had died from his injuries, the official said Saturday. |
| The other hostage was identified as Pierre Korkie, a South African teacher, who had been expected to be freed on Sunday, according to a statement posted on the website of Gift of the Givers, a disaster relief organization that had been negotiating his release. | The other hostage was identified as Pierre Korkie, a South African teacher, who had been expected to be freed on Sunday, according to a statement posted on the website of Gift of the Givers, a disaster relief organization that had been negotiating his release. |
| A Yemeni tribal leader who said he was a witness to the rescue operation, in the southern province of Shabwa, said that two Qaeda militants and at least eight civilians were killed during firefights as United States commandos raided several homes. | A Yemeni tribal leader who said he was a witness to the rescue operation, in the southern province of Shabwa, said that two Qaeda militants and at least eight civilians were killed during firefights as United States commandos raided several homes. |
| Mr. Obama said that he authorized the rescue attempt after concluding that Mr. Somers’s life was in “imminent danger.” | Mr. Obama said that he authorized the rescue attempt after concluding that Mr. Somers’s life was in “imminent danger.” |
| “It is my highest responsibility to do everything possible to protect American citizens,” the president said in a statement. “As this and previous hostage rescue operations demonstrate, the United States will spare no effort to use all of its military, intelligence and diplomatic capabilities to bring Americans home safely, wherever they are located.” | “It is my highest responsibility to do everything possible to protect American citizens,” the president said in a statement. “As this and previous hostage rescue operations demonstrate, the United States will spare no effort to use all of its military, intelligence and diplomatic capabilities to bring Americans home safely, wherever they are located.” |
| The raid was the second failed operation by United States forces to rescue Mr. Somers from Yemen in less than two weeks. | |
| The deaths of the hostages – as well as several Yemeni civilians — seemed likely to raise new questions about the Obama administration’s reliance on military power to free its captured citizens. The United States and Britain have policies against paying ransom for citizens kidnapped by terrorist groups. Most European countries do pay such ransoms. | |
| Speaking on the sidelines of a regional security conference in Manama, Bahrain, Maj. Gen. Ali al-Ahmadi, chief of the National Security Bureau in Yemen, said the joint operation by American and Yemeni forces to free the hostages was a race against time since the captors had vowed to kill Mr. Somers on Saturday. | Speaking on the sidelines of a regional security conference in Manama, Bahrain, Maj. Gen. Ali al-Ahmadi, chief of the National Security Bureau in Yemen, said the joint operation by American and Yemeni forces to free the hostages was a race against time since the captors had vowed to kill Mr. Somers on Saturday. |
| “It was an effort to save him,” General Ahmadi said. “The operation happened, but as soon as the terrorists felt that they were being attacked, they killed him.” | “It was an effort to save him,” General Ahmadi said. “The operation happened, but as soon as the terrorists felt that they were being attacked, they killed him.” |
| Mr. Somers had been held with Mr. Korkie and another hostage, a British citizen. But about 24 hours before the raid, their captors had split them up, leaving only one of them — apparently Mr. Korkie — with Mr. Somers. | Mr. Somers had been held with Mr. Korkie and another hostage, a British citizen. But about 24 hours before the raid, their captors had split them up, leaving only one of them — apparently Mr. Korkie — with Mr. Somers. |
| Mr. Somers, a freelance photographer, was abducted from a street in the Yemeni capital, Sana, in September 2013. Last month, United States commandos and Yemeni counterterrorism troops mounted a raid on a remote cave in Yemen near the border with Saudi Arabia, killing seven militants and freeing eight other hostages but failing to locate Mr. Somers. | |
| On Wednesday, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemeni extremist group that was holding Mr. Somers, threatened to kill him by the end of the week if its demands were not met. In the video, a leader of the group spoke of the November raid and warned the United States not to carry out any similar operations. | On Wednesday, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemeni extremist group that was holding Mr. Somers, threatened to kill him by the end of the week if its demands were not met. In the video, a leader of the group spoke of the November raid and warned the United States not to carry out any similar operations. |
| Mr. Somers’s family broke its silence after the video appeared, urging his captors to release him in a video of their own and insisting that they had no prior knowledge of an earlier rescue attempt. “Luke is only a photojournalist, and he is not responsible for any actions the U.S. government has taken,” said his brother, Jordan Somers. | Mr. Somers’s family broke its silence after the video appeared, urging his captors to release him in a video of their own and insisting that they had no prior knowledge of an earlier rescue attempt. “Luke is only a photojournalist, and he is not responsible for any actions the U.S. government has taken,” said his brother, Jordan Somers. |
| On Saturday, Mr. Somers’s sister, Lucy Somers, told The Associated Press that agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation had notified the family of her brother’s death. | |
| “We ask that all of Luke’s family members be allowed to mourn in peace,” she said. | |
| There was no immediate word on the fate of the British hostage. | There was no immediate word on the fate of the British hostage. |
| By Saturday, United States intelligence, including spy satellites, surveillance drones and eavesdropping technology, had pinpointed the location of Mr. Somers and Mr. Korkie to a walled compound inside the village, according to a senior military official who provided an account of the operation. | |
| About two dozen SEAL Team Six commandos, joined by a small number of Yemeni counterterrorism troops, swept into the village aboard V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft under cover of darkness early Saturday morning local time. | |
| But the SEALS faced even steeper odds than usual in this hostage rescue. The clock was ticking’ the Saturday execution deadline set by Al Qaeda loomed. The enemy — not the commandos- had essentially decided the time of a possible rescue. | |
| The commandos also feared that Al Qaeda might move the hostages once again, requiring valuable time to relocate them. | |
| The compound was guarded by about a half-dozen gunmen, already jittery over the prospect of a repeat of the previous week’s hostage rescue attempt by the Americans. | |
| Finally, the terrain of the approach to the compound was sufficiently difficult that the commandos had virtually no element of surprise, which they typically plan for and rely on. | |
| “It was just very difficult to reach the hostages before the captors received warning,” said one senior United States military official who monitored the operation overnight Friday into Saturday. | |
| “It was very difficult to catch them by enough surprise to prevent them from having time to execute the hostages,” said an official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss classified operations. | |
| Heavily warmed and wearing night-vision goggles, the commandos breached the compound, but not before, as they had feared, the captors shot their captives in a back room of a compound building. | |
| The commandos gunned down all half-dozen or so militants guarding the hostages, and recovered Mr. Somers, who was badly wounded and barely alive. | |
| Mr. Somers was quickly moved to an Osprey, which lands and takes off like a helicopter and flies like an airplane, for the dash to the amphibious ship USS Makin Island, from which the rescue mission was launched. | |
| The tribal leader who said he witnessed the raid, Tarek al-Daghari al-Awlaki, said that starting about 1 a.m. on Saturday, helicopters and as many as 100 troops descended on the village, Wadi Abadan. The United States forces deployed concussion grenades as they raided four houses in the village, he said. | The tribal leader who said he witnessed the raid, Tarek al-Daghari al-Awlaki, said that starting about 1 a.m. on Saturday, helicopters and as many as 100 troops descended on the village, Wadi Abadan. The United States forces deployed concussion grenades as they raided four houses in the village, he said. |
| “The shooting caused panic,” Mr. Daghari said. “Nine of the dead are from my tribe. Two of the dead are known to be members of Al Qaeda.” He said that two wounded civilians, a woman and a child, were taken to a nearby hospital and that Saturday was spent burying the dead and collecting spent shell casings. | |
| Mr. Somers had lived in Yemen for several years before his capture. He worked as an editor at English-language newspapers and as a freelance photojournalist. Mr. Korkie was kidnapped along with his wife, Yolande Korkie, in May 2013. | Mr. Somers had lived in Yemen for several years before his capture. He worked as an editor at English-language newspapers and as a freelance photojournalist. Mr. Korkie was kidnapped along with his wife, Yolande Korkie, in May 2013. |
| When no one stepped in to help the Korkies, Gift of the Givers, a South African relief organization that has projects in Yemen, used its connections with tribal leaders in the area to contact the kidnappers, eventually winning Mrs. Korkie’s freedom. She was released without ransom this January, according to the charity’s director, Imtiaz Sooliman. | When no one stepped in to help the Korkies, Gift of the Givers, a South African relief organization that has projects in Yemen, used its connections with tribal leaders in the area to contact the kidnappers, eventually winning Mrs. Korkie’s freedom. She was released without ransom this January, according to the charity’s director, Imtiaz Sooliman. |
| The charity thought it could also negotiate her husband’s freedom, but that proved far more difficult. For months earlier this year, the terror group continued to insist on a ransom payment — even though the family explained that they did not have the money. The South African government refused to intercede, Mr. Sooliman said in an interview in June. | The charity thought it could also negotiate her husband’s freedom, but that proved far more difficult. For months earlier this year, the terror group continued to insist on a ransom payment — even though the family explained that they did not have the money. The South African government refused to intercede, Mr. Sooliman said in an interview in June. |
| In the statement posted on Saturday, Gift of the Givers said, “Pierre was to be released by Al Qaeda tomorrow.” | In the statement posted on Saturday, Gift of the Givers said, “Pierre was to be released by Al Qaeda tomorrow.” |
| Yemeni leaders were preparing “the final security and logistical arrangements,” the statement continued. “It is even more tragic that the words we used in a conversation with Yolande at 5:59 this morning was, ‘The wait is almost over.'” | Yemeni leaders were preparing “the final security and logistical arrangements,” the statement continued. “It is even more tragic that the words we used in a conversation with Yolande at 5:59 this morning was, ‘The wait is almost over.'” |