The helicopter raid in Somalia happened shortly before Obama’s State of the Union address
Two teams of U.S. Navy Seals swooped a remote pirate base near Haradheere, Somalia by helicopter on Wednesday to rescue an American and a Dane held hostage. Reuters reports all nine of the pair’s captors were killed in the successful bid to free American Jessica Buchanan and Dane Poul Hagen Thisted, both aid workers with the Danish De-Mining Group. The two were kidnapped in October in the semi-autonomous region of Gulgumud. According to media reports, they have been flown to Djibouti, where the U.S. maintains its only air base in Africa. U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta confirmed that no U.S. troops were killed in the operation. U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement, “This is yet another message to the world that the United States of America will stand strongly against any threats to our people.” It is believed Obama congratulated Panetta on the operation by telephone just prior to his State of the Union address.