Navy SEALs Rescue Two Aid Workers in Somalia in Daring Raid
A U.S. special operations team of Navy SEALs rescued two aid workers in Somalia Tuesday night, including a U.S. woman who had been held hostage for three months by Somali kidnappers and suffered from a life-threatening medical condition.
Jessica Buchanan, 32, of Bedford, Va., and Poul Hagen Thisted, 60, of Denmark, were abducted Oct. 25 by a band of Somalis while on their way to the airport in Galcayo, located in central Somalia. Both were working for the Danish Refugee Council’s Danish Demining Group, and had just finished a training course for local Somali citizens when they were abducted.
In a statement released by the White House, President Obama said he had authorized a rescue mission Monday.