Seal Team rescues American hostage in Somalia

January 25, 2012 | Filed under Breaking News,Heroes,Military | Posted by

MSNBC:

Jessica_BuchananIn a daring nighttime raid Tuesday, U.S. Navy SEALs rescued two hostages, including one American, who were being held by kidnappers in Somalia, U.S. officials tell NBC News.

American Jessica Buchanan, 32, and a 60-year-old Dane, Poul Thisted, were working for a Danish relief organization in northern Somalia when they were kidnapped last October. U.S. officials described their kidnappers as heavily armed common criminals with no known ties to any organized militant group.

According to the U.S. officials, two teams of Navy SEALs landed by helicopter near the compound where the two hostages were being held.  As the SEALS approached the compound on foot gunfire broke out, the U.S. officials said, and several of the militants were reportedly killed. There is no word that any of the Americans were wounded.

The SEALs gathered up Buchanan and Thisted, loaded them onto the helicopters and flew them to safety at an undisclosed location. The two hostages were not injured during the rescue operation and are reported to be in relatively good condition.

The two had been working for the Danish Refugee Council on a demining project in northern Somalia. The humanitarian group has been providing relief to some 450,000 refugees in the Somalia-Kenya border region.

No word yet if Obama suffered any injuries in rushing to make sure the rescue becomes fodder for his re-election campaign.

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Posted by on January 25, 2012.
Filed under Breaking News, Heroes, Military.
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  • Olsoljer

    Gotta love them Seals!!

  • herddog505

    We need more of this.  “Kidnap an American, and the best you can hope for is that the SEALS / Delta Force / Rangers / Marines will kill you quickly.”

  • Commander_Chico

    Good for the SEALs, and they could not have rescued better people – Danish Demining bravely does some good work in very dangerous places, like Iraq.

  • Wild_Willie

    I hear that the seal team is out and about a few times a day conducting ops. Very few we hear about.  As it should be. Kudo’s to our military and especiall my favorite, the USN. ww

  • jim_m

    Gee, maybe Mayor Bloomberg should throw these guys into the psych ward too.
    http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/arrested_guy_the_real_seal_zltbTtNkgqINfp4pstK98O

    • Commander_Chico

      Odd case.  No OUI, but he was “rambling incoherently?”

      Still, there are a lot of high-speed guys who have been running hard over the last ten years and not all are going to have a soft landing.  If history is any precedent, the country will screw them over.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_R7FMXY3DZP7JF7SGSPIOSLLXNE Stephen

    While he was delivering the SOTU speech with one hand, Obama pulls this off with the other.

    Wow.

    • herddog505

      Absolutely.  And he was also managing to remember to breath!  What a mensch he is!  Clean and articulate, too.

      / sarc

  • westcoastwiser

    Not just SEALS…  the other classified mission operators do it often as well, and you never hear about them, either.  EXCEPT when the commander-in-chief wants to build his leadership resume by saying “yes”.  Can’t wait to see the photo-shopped picture of the POTUS scrunched-down at the situation room briefing.

  • LiberalNightmare

    If all of the worlds pirates and trouble makers would just have the decency to act up during election season, the world would be a better place.