또 체면구긴 美 특수부대..인질 구출 잇단 실패 UK-born hostage Luke Somers shot dead by his Al Qaeda
UK-born hostage Luke Somers shot dead by his Al Qaeda captors during rescue bid by US Navy SEALs was 'seconds from safety'
영국 출신 알카에다 인질 루크 소머스 사망
미 네이비씰 작전 실패 결과
Twenty Navy SEALs surrounded compound after SAS helped to locate it
They observed for 24 hours in order to fine-tune plans for the assault
Team started going house-to-house and managed to kill ten militants
But Luke Somers and Pierre Korkie were shot before they could be found
또 체면구긴 美 특수부대..인질 구출 잇단 실패
By MARK NICOL and MARTIN DELGADO FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
A British-born photographer kidnapped by Al Qaeda was just seconds from being rescued by US special forces before being shot dead by his captors yesterday.
US Navy SEALs, mounting a dramatic rescue bid, crept to within 100 yards of a compound in a remote mountain hideout in Yemen where the hostages were being held.
The mission was ordered by Barack Obama after terrorists had on Thursday threatened to kill photographer Luke Somers, 33, within 72 hours.
Mr Somers, who spent most of his childhood in London but later became a US citizen, was killed shortly after the dawn raid began in Shabwa province, a stronghold of the terrorist network Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
South African teacher Pierre Korkie, also being held prisoner, was shot dead by the terror group alongside Somers.
The Mail on Sunday understands that while British Special Forces provided key information to their US counterparts, no UK troops were directly involved in the mission.
Last night Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond paid tribute to Mr Somers, saying: ‘Luke had close links with the UK and his family have spoken about Luke’s life and his work, and that is how he should be remembered.
‘My deepest condolences are with the families of both hostages at this time. We utterly condemn AQAP for the brutal murder of these two men.’
The dramatic raid was launched under cover of darkness following a desperate search for the terrorists’ hideout.
Pierre Korkie, a teacher from South Africa also being held captive, was also killed in the raid
A team of up to 20 Navy SEALs then watched the Al Qaeda compound in the village of Wadi Abadan for 24 hours, fine-tuning preparations for the raid.
On Friday evening, up to a further 80 Navy SEALs and Yemeni troops were flown from a US ship in the Arabian Gulf and touched down at a secret landing zone near the village.
According to US and Yemeni reports, a dramatic firefight took place after a villager spotted their advance and raised the alarm just as the Navy SEALs were poised to snatch the hostages.
The heavily armed Navy SEALs sprinted from house to house, surrounding the compound and shooting up to ten suspected terrorists.
US commanders appealed for the terrorists to surrender, as an official explained: ‘They called on the kidnappers to give themselves up because they were surrounded on all sides.
'But the kidnappers immediately killed two hostages, which prompted the forces to open fire on the kidnappers. They tried to give first aid to the hostages but they had lost their lives.’
Navy SEALs stormed the compound, killing the guards and recovering the fatally wounded Mr Somers and Mr Korkie.
They were carried to a waiting V-22 Osprey US aircraft, which had a surgical team on board.
At the end of the raid, US troops on the ground requested an air strike on Wadi Aba-Dan, which according to unconfirmed reports last night caused the deaths of a number of women and children.
The hostages and the US and Yemeni Special Forces were later flown back to the USS Makin Island, an amphibious assault ship positioned off Yemen’s southern coast, where Mr Somers and Mr Korkie were pronounced dead.
Elite: Navy SEALs carry out training missions in preparation for real-world combat (file image)
Mr Somers had moved to Yemen in 2011 to teach English but soon began photographing protests in the capital San’a and his images were published by the New York Times and BBC.
He was taken hostage in 2013 and sold to AQAP by local criminals.
Last night Mr Somers’s stepmother Penny Bearman, from Deal, Kent, said: ‘Luke was a talented photographer with a sensitivity for people and people’s lives.’
Mr Korkie was kidnapped in the Yemeni city of Taiz in May 2013, along with his wife Yolande.
Militants released her in January and South African negotiators claimed last night Mr Korkie would have been released today were it not for the botched raid.
l Lorenzo Vinciguerra, 49, a Swiss birdwatcher held hostage by militant Islamists in the Philippines for more than two years, has escaped after knifing one of his captors during fighting with government forces.
He was shot and wounded during the escape but escorted to safety by the Philippine army.
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