Sunday 7 December 2014

South African hostage killed during US raid was to have been released, aid group says


United States officials said Korkie and American freelance photographer Luke Somers were apparently shot by an Al Qaeda militant early in a roughly 5-to-10 minute firefight after the team of roughly 40 U.S. commandos were discovered approaching the compound where the men were held. Officials said that based on the location where Somers and Korkie were being held, there was no possibility that they were struck by American gunfire.

U.S. forces pulled Somers and Korkie onto V-22 Ospreys, and medical teams began performing surgery in midair. One hostage died during the short flight; the second died after the Ospreys landed on the USS Makin Island, a Navy ship in the region.

No American forces were killed or sustained serious injuries in the raid. Yemen's government said four of its forces were wounded.

No comments:

Post a Comment