American photojournalist Luke Somers was killed Friday by his Al Qaeda terrorist captors in Yemen.
President Barack Obama offered his “deepest condolences” on Saturday and condemned the “barbaric murder” after Somers died in a second failed rescue attempt by U.S. forces after being held 15 months by Al Qaeda.
“On behalf of the American people, I offer my deepest condolences to Luke’s family and to his loved ones,” he said in a statement. “As this and previous hostage rescue operations demonstrate, the United States will spare no effort to use all of its military, intelligence and diplomatic capabilities to bring Americans home safely, wherever they are located. And terrorists who seek to harm our citizens will feel the long arm of American justice,” he said.
According to a report on ABC News Saturday night, American special forces had already made one failed attempt ten days ago to save Somers.
In the second attempt, the special forces were 100 meters away from the hideout where Somers was being held, when an Al Qaeda guard stepped out from the compound unexpectedly, spotted the troops and raised the alarm.
Somers and a second hostage were both shot and badly wounded; Somers died on the way to the hospital but the second hostage survived the ordeal.