Rip Alert-- U.S Hostage Killed During Rescue Bid (Photo)

 

                      A United States journalist held by al-Qaeda in Yemen was killed by militants during an operation to rescue him, U.S and Yemeni officials say.
                      Luke Somers was shot by his captors during a raid by U.S forces, a U.S official told the New York Times.
                     His sister, Lucy Somers, told the Associated Press that she had been notified by the FBI of his death.
                   
U.S Defence Secretary, Chuck Hagel confirmed the killing and said a second, non-U.S hostage, also died.
Yemen’s defence ministry confirmed a “major operation” had taken place in Yemen’s southern Shabwa province on Saturday.
Mr. Somers, who was kidnapped in Yemen in 2013, had appeared in a video appealing for help.
“We ask that all of Luke’s family members be allowed to mourn in peace,” Lucy Somers told AP, speaking from London.
A drone strike believed to have been carried out by the U.S is reported to have killed nine suspected al-Qaeda militants in the region, the BBC reports.
Mr. Somers, 33, worked as a journalist and photographer for local news organisations. His material appeared on international news outlets, including the BBC News website.
He was kidnapped outside a supermarket in the Yemeni capital Sana’a in September 2013 and is believed to have been sold on to al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP).