At least 13 killed in failed U.S. bid to rescue hostages in Yemen

Murdered Yemen hostage Pierre Korkie's wife says Al Qaeda had agreed to release him 'in days' At least 13 killed in failed U.S. bid to rescue hostages in Yemen Sun, Dec 07 08:05 AM EST image By Mohammed Ghobari and Mohammed Mukhashaf SANAA/ADEN (Reuters) - A woman, a 10-year-old boy and a local al Qaeda leader were among at least 11 people killed alongside two Western hostages when U.S.-led forces battled militants in a failed rescue mission in Yemen, residents said on Sunday. U.S. special forces raided the village of Dafaar in Shabwa province, a militant stronghold in southern Yemen, shortly after midnight on Saturday, killing several members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). American journalist Luke Somers, 33, and South African teacher Pierre Korkie, 56, were shot and killed by their captors during the raid intended to secure the hostages' freedom, U.S. officials said. AQAP, formed in 2006 by the merger of the Yemeni and Saudi branches of the network, has for years been seen by Washington as one of the movement's most dangerous branches. Western governments fear an advance by Shi'ite Muslim Houthi fighters with links to Iran has bolstered support among Yemeni Sunnis for AQAP, which has established itself in parts of south and east Yemen, including Shabwa where the raid took place. However, since Islamic State in Syria and Iraq began distributing films of its militants executing Western hostages, the focus on AQAP, which has traditionally used hostage-taking as a way to raise funds, had diminished until now. At least one Briton and a Turkish man are still held by the group. The Yemen-based group, loyal to the wider al Qaeda organization founded by the late Osama bin Laden, has denounced Islamic State, but Western and Gulf sources have said there may be operational connections between the two. "AQAP and Daesh (Islamic State) are essentially the same organization but have different methods of execution and tactics," a senior Yemeni intelligence official said on the sidelines of a conference in Bahrain this weekend. "They have killed hostages before, like the Yemeni special forces soldiers in Abyan in 2011. There are some AQAP cells that have pledged allegiance to the caliphate but there is division over the legitimacy of Daesh in its vision but not tactics." LOUD EXPLOSIONS Apart from the woman and the 10-year-old boy, reports on social media feeds of known militants said one of those killed was an AQAP commander and two members of the group. Six other people from the same southern Yemen tribe also died, the reports said, although they could not be immediately verified by Reuters. The commander, identified as Jamal Mubarak al-Hard al-Daghari al-Awlaki, appeared to be the same person as Mubarak al-Harad, named in a Yemen Defence Ministry statement on Saturday as the leader of an AQAP group. Several of those said by militants to have died were from the Daghari and Awlaki families, which are important tribes in Shabwa province. Yemen's government said on Saturday the hostages were being held in the house of a man named Saeed al-Daghari. As special forces battled al Qaeda militants in a house belonging to the al-Daghari family, kidnappers in another building about 100 meters (300 ft) away shot and killed the two hostages, a local man who identified himself only as Jamal said. Senior U.S. officials have said the raid was carried out by U.S. forces alone, but both Yemen's government and local residents said Yemeni forces also participated in the raid and engaged militants holding Somers and Korkie. "Before the gunshots were heard, very strong floodlights turned the night into daylight, and then we heard loud explosions," Jamal told Reuters. "The soldiers were calling on the house inhabitants to surrender and the speaker was clearly a Yemeni soldier," he added. Another witness, named Abdullah, said the Yemeni army had blocked access to the Wadi from all directions before the raid began. "When the forces withdrew, we found lots of bloodstains, but did not know if those were of the soldiers or the hostages," Abdullah said. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the operation, the second attempt to free Somers in 10 days, had only been approved because of information that the American's life was in imminent danger. However, the Gift of the Givers relief group, which was trying to secure Korkie's release, said it had negotiated for the teacher to be freed and had expected that to happen on Sunday and for him to be returned to his family. Abdel-Razaq al-Jamal, a Yemeni journalist who specializes in covering Islamist militants, said AQAP may have originally intended to ransom Somers as well, but appeared to have been angered by the earlier failed rescue attempt on Nov. 25. "I don't think this marks a change in position by al Qaeda," Jamal told Reuters. "It is clear that negotiations have preceded their threat to kill him," he said. (Additional reporting by Yara Bayoumy in Manama; Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Angus McDowall and Giles Elgood) ====================== Wife of South African hostage shot dead in US Navy SEAL rescue bid says Al Qaeda had agreed to release her husband 'in days' Pierre Korkie was due to be released today after high-level negotiations His wife Yolande said his captors agreed to put him on a flight to Istanbul She had planned to leave South Africa today for their planned reunion Gift of the Givers charity and tribe in Yemen negotiated for his freedom Pierre was gunned down by the jihadists as US forces crept on compound By Jane Flanagan In Cape Town Published: 12:05 AEST, 7 December 2014 | Updated: 21:12 AEST, 7 December 2014 A South African teacher held by Al Qaeda was just days away from being released before he was shot dead by his captors on Friday during a botched rescue bid by US Special Forces. Yolande Korkie said the jihadist chiefs at the Yemeni compound where her husband Pierre was held captive had agreed to free the 33-year-old today after months of high-level negotiations. But his captors gunned him down on Thursday when US Navy SEALS crept up on the remote mountain hideout in Yemen in their failed bid to rescue American citizen Luke Somers. Yolande Korkie, pictured, said the Al Qaeda had agreed to release her husband Pierre Korkie from the Yemeni hideout after months of negotiations aided by South African charity Gift of the Givers and a local tribe Yolande Korkie, pictured, said the Al Qaeda had agreed to release her husband Pierre Korkie from the Yemeni hideout after months of negotiations aided by South African charity Gift of the Givers and a local tribe Ms Korkie said, who said she was 'devastated' to learn of her husband's death, had been preparing to leave South Africa for Istanbul to meet her husband's planned flight from Yemen. The mother of two was held with her husband for seven months before her release in January, after South African charity Gift of the Givers convinced Al Qaeda the couple were not American. Ms Korkie had spent the last 11 months campaigning for his freedom which was agonisingly close to fruition after the Muslim charity and local tribal leaders liaised with the jihadists. Yemen rescue failed as captors alerted to approaching U.S.... FILE - This image made from video posted online by militants on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, sh... Obama says Somers' life was in imminent danger UK-born hostage Luke Somers shot dead by his Al Qaeda... Yesterday, as she and her children were being comforted at home by family, she thanked those who had secured her freedom and risked their own lives on behalf of her husband. Just hours before Gift of the Givers boss Dr Imtiaz Sooliman briefed reporters after Pierre was gunned down Ms Korkie had texted him that 'the waiting is almost over' for his release. Pierre Korkie had lived in Yemen for four years when he and his wife Yolande were snatched off the street outside their hotel in May last year Pierre Korkie had lived in Yemen for four years when he and his wife Yolande were snatched off the street outside their hotel in May last year She later wrote: 'Please accept our deep appreciation for your immeasurable commitment ... and the tribes. I am too emotional to speak to Anas [the charity field worker who negotiated with Al Qaeda for her and her husband's freedom] right now. 'But remind him of my words to him in Sana: if anything happens, it is NOT his fault. And neither your or the tribe's fault.' Last night a spokesman for the family said: 'Teaching was Pierre's life. His heart took him to Yemen. He loved teaching the poor.' Dr Sooliman told MailOnline he'd told Mrs Korkie about a premonition he'd had that American forces might attack the compound where her husband was being held. They were making last-minute arrangements for his liberation in a late-night conversation, even as the audacious rescue attempt was under way. 'We were speaking on the phone after midnight and I said to Yolande, 'if the Americans attack to release the hostages, the danger is Pierre can get killed,' Dr Sooliman told MailOnline. 'She accepted that, she knew there was a real risk of that happening following the threat by Al Qaeda to execute an American. 'She is an incredibly strong woman, she has got stronger every day that we have been working on this. She is calm, she has faith and very resolute. 'We have been handling the negotiations, but she has been informed of every detail, every step of the way.' He added: 'The psychological and emotional devastation to Yolande and her family will be compounded by the knowledge that Pierre was about to be released by al Qaida. 'You can't blame anybody for this. You can't accuse or blame them [US forces]. It's just unfortunate that it happened.' Navy SEALs made it to within 100 yards of British-born photographer Luke Somers and fellow captive Pierre Korkie but they were executed by their captors before the team could reach them There had been just three sightings of Mr Korkie, who is deaf, since he was captured 18 months ago and there were serious concerns for his fading health - he is thought to have been suffering from a hernia. The family had lived in Yemen for four years before Mr and Mrs Korkie were snatched off the street outside their hotel in May last year as they were preparing to fly home for the funeral of Mr Korkie's father. The children returned home without their parents and were cared for by family until their mother's release seven months later. In an interview recorded on the first anniversary of his capture, Mrs Korkie, a therapist who specialises in using horses as healing aides, revealed how she and the children slept in her husband's t-shirts every night and refused to eat his favourite food until his return. 'He continues to live in the most difficult circumstances,' she said. 'Time in captivity does not go by in hours, it goes by minute to minute. The world as he knows it has stopped. Surviving becomes the only reality.' Mr Korkie was well-known and liked in the family's small, conservative Afrikaner home town of Bloemfontein, where he was a teacher at the local school and one-time athletics coach to its most famous daughter, Olympic running sensation Zola Budd. Last night, Ms Budd declined to comment on her old friend's death, but her agent said she was 'devastated by the news'. Dr Sooliman revealed that as part of the release plan, Mrs Korkie had written a letter to her husband which was to be given to him by the Abyan tribal leaders to whom Al Qaeda had agreed to hand him over. In the note, written in Afrikaans, she explained that he could trust the men who were helping to get him home in time for Christmas. The architects of 9/11 had even agreed to waive their US $3million ransom for Mr Korkie when they finally confirmed he would be freed three weeks ago. The charity decided to approach the tribal leaders for their assistance after contact with Al Qaeda broke down after Mr Korkie's family had failed to raise the ransom the group had demanded. Mr Korkie's body is held by the US forces. The South African government will liaise with military officials and the Yemeni government for the repatriation of his remains, Nelson Kgwete, a spokesman for the South African government said. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2863957/Wife-South-African-hostage-shot-dead-Navy-SEAL-rescue-bid-says-Al-Qaeda-agreed-release-husband-days.html#ixzz3LDvJ1ueb Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook ================