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An American and a Danish aid worker kidnapped in Somalia several months ago were freed after U.S. Navy SEAL forces conducted a military raid early on Jan. 25.
“On Monday, I authorized an operation to rescue Jessica Buchanan, an American citizen who was kidnapped and held against her will for three months in Somalia,” said President Barack Obama in a statement.
Obama added that the United States “will not tolerate the abduction of our people, and will spare no effort to secure the safety of our citizens and to bring their captors to justice,” according to the statement. “This is yet another message to the world that the United States of America will stand strongly against any threats to our people.”
U.S. officials confirmed that the special operations forces rescued Buchanan and Danish citizen Poul Hagen Thisted, who were working with a Danish aid agency, from a pirate camp, according to the Washington Post. All nine of their captors were killed in the raid.
Officials told the Post that there are no indicators that the captors had connections to al-Shabab, al-Qaeda, or other terrorist groups. The men are believed to have been associated with Somali pirates and were holding the two aid workers for ransom.
The rescue mission was conducted by the same special forces unit, Navy SEAL Team 6, that captured Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May, according to The Associated Press. Citing Somali pirates who spoke with them, AP reporters said the pirate guards were chewing on the narcotic leaf khat and were likely intoxicated or sleeping when the raid was carried out.