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Navy Room of the US Navy Special Forces (Material photo)On the weekend of last month 31 (local time), just after midnight, US Special Forces personnel parachuted into northern Nigeria, which borders Niger, Africa.
Five days after the American people were kidnapped by gunmen on the 26th, it was the moment when members of the Navy Special Forces (Navy Room), the elite American troops, began a rescue operation.
According to the New York Times (NYT), about 30 Team 6 Navy agents were employed in the operation that day.
The special agents landed on a parachute that traveled about 4.8 kilometers and raided the kidnapper’s hideout in the forest.
Even at night, an unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) flew in the sky and Navy agents immediately confronted the hijackers.
NYT told the situation that the engagement was “brief but intense.”
Philip Walton, 27, the son of an American missionary who was kidnapped, was rescued without injury by Navy SEAL agents and without casualties on the American military side.
Life’s kidnappers were shot on the spot. However, it is said that one escaped the darkness.
The rescue operation was supported by the Nigerian and Nigerian governments, and the hijackers’ currency was said to have been traced to identify the hiding place.
Walton is said to have lived with his wife and daughter on a farm in Masalata, Niger, on the border with Nigeria.
At the time of the kidnapping, a stranger appeared and begged for money, and as soon as Walton gave him $ 40, gunmen of life appeared on motorcycles, kidnapped Walton, and ran away.
The kidnappers are said to have demanded around $ 1 million (1.13 billion won) for Walton’s ransom. A United States official explained that the kidnappers were also believed to have intended to sell Walton to terrorist groups.
A Trump administration official said Walton had headed to a United States Air Force base in Niger’s capital Niamey to meet with his family.
President of the United States, Donald TrumpIn May 2011, when the hideout of the then-senior al Qaeda bin Laden leader in Abotabad, Pakistan, was raided and killed, six Navy SEAL teams were mobilized.
This rescue operation took place three days before the US presidential elections.
It is not clear if the presidential election has anything to do with the start of the rescue operation, but it is known that this operation was approved by President Trump, and President Trump immediately showed the success of the operation.
President Trump praised the Navy SEAL agents in a tweet that day, saying: “Our brave warriors have rescued American hostages in Nigeria.”
Ms. Trump’s wife, Ms. Melania, also expressed her gratitude to Navy SEAL agents in presenting the success of Walton’s rescue in a campaign to support President Trump in Wisconsin.
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