JayTheClown
01-25-2012, 06:30 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/25/world/...html?hpt=hp_t1 (http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/25/world/africa/somalia-aid-workers/index.html?hpt=hp_t1)
U.S. special forces swooped into Somalia in a pair of helicopters in a daring overnight raid to rescue two kidnapped aid workers -- an American and a Dane -- and killed several gunmen, American officials said Wednesday.
The hostages, Jessica Buchanan and Poul Thisted, were seized in October after they visited humanitarian projects in northern Somalia, said the Danish Refugee Council, the agency for which they worked.
Both are unharmed, the aid group said.
They were taken to a regional medical facility and receiving care from U.S. military doctors and nurses, Pentagon spokesman George Little said.
Navy SEALs from the unit that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden last year in Pakistan were part of the mission, a U.S. official said, without specifying whether any of the same individuals were on both assaults.
The official is not authorized to speak to the media and asked not to be named.
The special forces troops took fire as they fought their way into a compound where the hostages were held, the official said, adding the troops believed that the kidnappers were shooting.
Nine heavily armed gunmen were killed in the strike, Pentagon spokesman Little said, adding that they had explosives nearby.
There were no known survivors among the kidnappers, Little said.
U.S. special forces swooped into Somalia in a pair of helicopters in a daring overnight raid to rescue two kidnapped aid workers -- an American and a Dane -- and killed several gunmen, American officials said Wednesday.
The hostages, Jessica Buchanan and Poul Thisted, were seized in October after they visited humanitarian projects in northern Somalia, said the Danish Refugee Council, the agency for which they worked.
Both are unharmed, the aid group said.
They were taken to a regional medical facility and receiving care from U.S. military doctors and nurses, Pentagon spokesman George Little said.
Navy SEALs from the unit that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden last year in Pakistan were part of the mission, a U.S. official said, without specifying whether any of the same individuals were on both assaults.
The official is not authorized to speak to the media and asked not to be named.
The special forces troops took fire as they fought their way into a compound where the hostages were held, the official said, adding the troops believed that the kidnappers were shooting.
Nine heavily armed gunmen were killed in the strike, Pentagon spokesman Little said, adding that they had explosives nearby.
There were no known survivors among the kidnappers, Little said.