Per @LucasFoxNews American hostage rescued in West Africa by Seal Team 6 in daring raid
— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) October 31, 2020
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 28, 2020
BREAKING: An American hostage has been rescued in West Africa by SEAL Team 6 in a daring raid early this morning
Philip Walton, 27, "is safe and is now in the care of the U.S. Department of State," DoD says
Walton kidnapped in Niger earlier this week. He was recused in Nigeria
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) October 31, 2020
ADDING: Pentagon says "no U.S military personnel were injured during the operation."
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) October 31, 2020
The Pentagon statement did not say how many members of the armed group who kidnapped Walton had been killed or wounded, but ABC News’s report said that all but one of the captors had died in the raid. The status of the remaining individual is unclear.
Details about the exact composition of the raiding force, beyond the inclusion of SEAL Team Six, are limited. The raid included the extremely long-distance movement of forces via multiple C-17A Globemaster III transport aircraft flights and the employment of a quartet of both CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotors and MC-130 special operations transports, the latter of which pushed through Rota, Spain, before continuing to their target. AC-130 gunships and a large contingent of aerial refueling tankers also supported this operation.
An American citizen abducted last week in Niger has been rescued during a high-risk U.S. military raid in neighboring Nigeria, officials told ABC News early Saturday.
The mission was undertaken by elite commandos as part of a major effort to free the U.S. citizen, Philip Walton, 27, before his abductors could get far after taking him captive in Niger on Oct. 26, counterterrorism officials told ABC News.
The operation involved the governments of the U.S., Niger and Nigeria working together to rescue Walton quickly, sources said. The elite SEAL Team Six carried out the rescue mission and killed all but one of the captors, according to officials with direct knowledge about the operation.
h/t kpm