US Navy SEALs exit a C-130 aircraft during a training exercise. (Photo: US Navy/ Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Anthony Harding/Released)
Two foreign aid workers kidnapped in Somalia three months ago have been freed in a rare US military raid.
US officials have confirmed that Navy SEALs were dropped into Somalia to carry out the overnight operation which resulted in a shoot-out.
Vice-President Joe Biden told ABC News that the mission was approved because of the failing health of one of the aid workers.
The hostages, American Jessica Buchanan, 32, and Dane Poul Thisted, 60, were seized in October.
Both were freed uninjured, although nine of their captors are said to have been killed. No casualties have been reported among US forces.
Lisa Mullins talks with the New York Times’ Jeffrey Gettleman.
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