News: American Hostage Luke Somers & South African Hostage Pierre Korkie Killed By Al-Qaeda Captors In Rescue Attempt

Another sad news!

An American hostage held for more than a year by al Qaeda’s Yemen branch and a South African were killed during a U.S. special operations forces raid Friday night, in the second rescue attempt in as many weeks.

Luke Somers, 33 years old, was killed by militants, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Saturday. Several members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, were also killed in the raid.

South African teacher Pierre Korkie was also killed in the raid, according to a charity that had been trying to help negotiate his release.

Mr. Hagel said the raid was ordered by President Barack Obama because “there were compelling reasons to believe Mr. Somers’ life was in imminent danger.”

“Both Mr. Somers and a second non-U.S. citizen hostage were murdered by the AQAP terrorists during the course of the operation,” Mr. Hagel said in a statement.

A U.S. official said Mr. Somers was shot by militants as the raid unfolded and wasn’t killed in crossfire.

It wasn’t immediately clear where Mr. Somers’s remains were.

The raid took place after AQAP had warned that they would kill Mr. Somers if U.S. forces attempted another “foolish” rescue attempt, in a video statement released Thursday. In the video, an AQAP commander threatened to kill Mr. Somers by the end of the week if their unspecified demands weren’t met.

Although AQAP’s requests to the U.S. government are unknown, the group frequently asks for ransom payments or prisoner exchanges. Under U.S. law, ransom payments to terrorist groups are illegal and American officials have threatened victims’ family members with legal action in the past if they meet kidnappers’ requests.

Luke Somers (L) & South African hostage Pierre Korkie (R)