Headline Roundup December 7, 2014
Failed Yemen Rescue
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New York Times (News)
United States commandos stormed a village in southern Yemen early Saturday in an effort to free an American photojournalist held hostage by Al Qaeda, but the raid ended in tragedy, with the kidnappers killing the American and a South African held with him, United States officials said.
The hostages — Luke Somers, an American photojournalist, and Pierre Korkie, a South African teacher — were killed by their captors, militants from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, when they
American photojournalist Luke Somers was killed during a failed rescue attempt in Yemen, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Saturday.
Somers had been held by al-Qaeda militants since his abduction in Yemen's capital of Sanaa in September 2013.
Hagel, speaking from Kabul where he made a surprise visit Saturday, confirmed the British-born hostage's death following an unsuccessful raid to free him by U.S. and Yemeni special forces.
U.S. commandos got to within 100 yards of the walled compound where al-Qaida-linked militants were holding American hostage Luke Somers and South African Pierre Korkie when a noise — possibly a dog barking — may have alerted people inside of the raid, U.S. officials briefed on the failed operation said Saturday.
Then the shooting started, The Wall Street Journal says in an analysis of the operation.
After about a 30 minute battle with the AQAP terrorists, the Special Operations team of about 40 fighters came out, still under fire and...
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