US military free American and Dane kidnapped in Somalia

MOGADISHU – United States military forces helicoptered into Somalia in a nighttime raid yesterday and freed two hostages, an American and a Dane, while killing nine pirates, officials and a pirate source said.

The Danish Refugee Council confirmed the two aid workers, American Jessica Buchanan and Dane Poul Hagan Thisted, were freed ‘during an operation in Somalia.’ Buchanan, 32, and Thisted, 60, had been working with a de-mining unit of the Danish Refugee Council when they were kidnapped.President Barack Obama appeared to refer to the mission before his State of the Union address in Washington on Tuesday night. As he entered the House chamber in the US Capitol, he pointed at Defence Secretary Leon Panetta in the crowd and said, ‘Good job tonight.’A Western official told The Associated Press that the raid was carried out by US military forces. A second official said the helicopters and the hostages flew to a US military base called Camp Lemonier in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity.Panetta visited Camp Lemonier just over a month ago, a key US ally in this region, Djibouti has the only US base in sub-Saharan Africa. It hosts the military’s Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa.The Danish Refugee Council said both freed hostages are unharmed ‘and at a safe location.’ The group said in a separate statement that the two ‘are on their way to be reunited with their families.’The two aid workers appear to have been kidnapped by criminals – sometimes referred to as pirates – and not by Somalia’s al Qaeda-linked militant group Shabaab. As large ships at sea have increased their defences against pirate attacks, gangs have looked for other money-making opportunities like land-based kidnappings.Pirates told AP two helicopters attacked at about 02h00 at the site where the hostages were being held about 20 kilometres north of the Somali town of Adado.The Danish Refugee Council had earlier enlisted traditional Somali elders and members of civil society to seek the release of the two hostages. The two were seized in October from the portion of Galkayo town under the control of a government-allied clan militia. The aid agency has said that Somalis held demonstrations demanding the pair’s quick release.- Nampa-AP