Yemen - Hostages Luke Somers, Pierre Korkie killed during rescue attempt

[zwiebel]

33 -year-old US photojournalist Luke Somers is reported to have been killed during a US rescue attempt in Yemen. Somers was being held hostage by Al Qaeda, along with other hostages from Turkey, South Africa and Britain. Their fate is unknown at this time.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/w...rod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share&_r=0

ETA: News has been updated to add that South African hostage Pierre Korkie was also killed.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30358665

 

[katydid23]

If I were Luke, I would rather die with my country coming to try and save me, than allow those monsters to behead me on video. RIP Brave young man. :rose:

 

[zwiebel]

Thank you mod, for moving this to the correct thread.

It seems that Pierre was very, very close to being released, following negotiations with South Africa. Authorities there don't seem to have had any knowledge about the raid, and are upset.

 

[zwiebel]

'For 18 months, a group of civilians in South Africa worked to accomplish what their government had been unable to do: negotiate the release of a South African couple held by Al Qaeda in the lawless desert of southern Yemen.

In January, the civilian negotiators succeeded in securing the release of the woman, Yolande Korkie. And in recent weeks, they received confirmation that the terrorist group had agreed to free her husband, Pierre Korkie, in return for a $200,000 ransom. On Saturday morning, a convoy of cars was set to leave the southern Yemeni city of Aden to pick up the 54-year-old hostage from the remote outpost where he was being held.

At 6 a.m. in Johannesburg, Imtiaz Sooliman, the director of the aid group that had led the long effort, sent a text message to Mrs. Korkie: “The waiting is almost over.”

At 8:03 a.m. his phone rang with incomprehensible news: Mr. Korkie was dead.'

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/08/w...om-killed-during-seal-raid.html?smid=tw-share

 

[Tugela]

I doubt they were killed by the hostage takers, more likely they took shots during the firefight. If the group holding them shot them, they would have been dead immediately, but Korkie died while being flown out and the American died later. That means they were wounded, not executed.

These two were probably shot by the people coming to rescue them, but they will never admit to that.

 

[zwiebel]

'Pretoria - The body of Pierre Korkie arrived at Waterkloof air base on Tuesday morning.

The body was received by Korkie’s family, government officials and the US ambassador....A post mortem will first be conducted on his body before it is handed over to his family for burial.'

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Korkies-body-arrives-in-SA-20141209