By Michael Logan and Mohamed Odowa –
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Two hostages, an American and a Dane, have been freed from captivity in Somalia by the U.S. Navy, the Danish Refugee Council and a pirate said Wednesday.
“The Danish Refugee Council hereby confirms that Jessica Buchanan and Poul Hagen Thisted have been rescued earlier today during an operation in Somalia,” the council said in a statement. “The two aid workers from the Danish Refugee Council’s demining unit, DDG, are both unharmed and at a safe location.”
A pirate called Falastiin said that the U.S. Navy took the hostages by force, injuring, killing or capturing dozens of the gang holding the hostages.
The aid workers were taken hostage by their security team in the central town of Galkayo on Oct. 25 before being passed on to a pirate gang, which was seeking a ransom payment.