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US defends failed Yemen rescue operation

US, South African Qaeda hostages killed in Yemen rescue bid/AFP

An image from a propaganda video released by al-Malahem Media on December 4, 2014 purportedly shows Nasser bin Ali Al-Ansi, of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, reading a message threatening to kill US hostage Luke Somers/AFP

SANAA, Dec 7 – US officials have said they had no choice but to launch a special forces rescue operation in Yemen that ended with Al-Qaeda killing an American photojournalist and a South African teacher.

The hostages 33 year old American Luke Somers and 57 year old South African Pierre Korkie  were killed by their captors when US commandos stormed an Al-Qaeda hideout early on Saturday.

The failed raid came after the kidnappers had threatened to kill Somers within 72 hours, and just a day before Korkie was due to be released under a negotiated deal.

Calling the murders “barbaric,” President Barack Obama said he had authorised the rescue attempt because the video and other information “indicated that Luke’s life was in imminent danger”.

“The United States will spare no effort to use all of its military, intelligence, and diplomatic capabilities to bring Americans home safely, wherever they are located,” he said.

A senior US defence official said there were “good indications” that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the group’s powerful Yemeni branch, “were preparing to kill” Somers.

“It was either act now and take the risk, or let that deadline pass. And no one was willing to do that,” said the official, who was with US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel in the Afghan capital Kabul.

British born Somers, 33, had worked as a freelance photographer for the BBC and spent time at local newspapers, including the Yemen Times, before being abducted in Sanaa in September 2013.

Korkie and his wife Yolande, who had worked as teachers in Yemen for four years, were kidnapped by Al-Qaeda in May 2013.

She was released in January and the Gift of Givers charity said logistical arrangements had already been put in place to fly Korkie out of Yemen on Sunday.

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Saturday’s operation saw 40 US commandos dropped by helicopter in the dead of night 10 kilometres (six miles) from where Somers and Korkie were being held in the southeastern province of Shabwa, officials said.

They made their way to the Al-Qaeda hideout by foot, but were discovered about 100 metres (yards) away.

A short but intense firefight lasting five to 10 minutes erupted, the US defence official said.

At least five militants were believed killed, and there were no casualties among US personnel.

“When the element of surprise was lost, and a firefight ensued, we believe that is when (the hostages) were shot,” the official said.

The US has said Navy SEALs and Yemeni commandos had already tried unsuccessfully to rescue Somers last month, but the Pentagon would not confirm which branch of the special forces took part this time.

It said national forces did not join the latest raid but that Yemen was consulted and supported the operation.

One hostage it was not clear who died en route to the USS Makin Island off Yemen, and the other died on the operating table, officials said.

Friends and family described Somers as a committed journalist who sought to document the lives of ordinary people amid turmoil.

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Yemen has been wracked by unrest since a 2011 uprising forced president Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down, with rival militias battling for control of parts of the impoverished country.

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