MOGADISHU, Somalia -- U.S. Navy SEALs parachuted into Somalia under cover of darkness early Wednesday and crept up to an outdoor camp where an American woman and Danish man were being held hostage. Soon, nine kidnappers were dead and both hostages were freed.
President Barack Obama authorized the mission by SEAL Team 6 two days earlier, deploying the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden last year. Minutes after the president gave his State of the Union address to Congress he was on the phone with the American's father to tell him his daughter was safe.
The raiders came in quickly, catching the guards as they were sleeping after having chewed the narcotic leaf qat for much of the evening, a self-described pirate who gave his name as Bile Hussein told The Associated Press by phone. Hussein said he was not present at the site but had spoken with other kidnappers who were, and that they told him nine kidnappers had been killed in the raid and three were "taken away."
The hostage rescue was carried out by the same SEAL unit, SEAL Team 6, behind the operation in Pakistan last May that killed bin Laden, two U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity to discuss the operation.
One official said that the team parachuted into the area before moving on foot to the target. The raid happened near the Somali town of Adado.
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MAY 2, 2011: Osama Bin Laden is DEAD! Good Riddance
MAY 3, 2011: SEAL Team 6: The Ones Resonsible For Osama Bin Laden's Demise (As of this posting, this entry has garnered 5016 hits since then)
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It's crazy that a Dane and American would go to do humanitarian work in the most dangerous, lawless, anti-western country in Africa. If you're stupid enough to do that, you can't complain about anything happening to you. I'm just glad our Navy SEALS are safe.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's why we can't get enough of them ...in the 1/6 scale :)
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