WRIC Richmond News and Weather - Bedford Aid Worker Rescued By SEAL Team In Somalia

Bedford Aid Worker Rescued By SEAL Team In Somalia

Jessica Buchanan (AP Photo) Jessica Buchanan (AP Photo)

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - An American and a Danish aid worker held captive in Somalia have been rescued by U.S. military forces.

Military helicopters flew in under the cover of darkness and freed American Jessica Buchanan, from Bedford, Va., and Dane Poul Hagen Thisted. Both had been working with a de-mining unit of the Danish Refugee Council when they were kidnapped by pirates in October.

SEAL team members killed nine pirates in the raid.

The White House has issued a statement saying that on Monday, President Barack Obama authorized the rescue, and Obama says, "I could not be prouder of the troops who carried out this mission."

The Danish Refugee Council had been trying to work with Somali elders to win the hostages' freedom but had found little success. The Danish foreign minister told Denmark television that one of the hostages has a disease that's gotten very serious. He didn't elaborate.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Powered by WorldNow
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2012 WorldNow and WRIC. All Rights Reserved.
For more information on this site, please read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.