Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said President Obama, acting on a recommendation from Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, had authorized the August mission to rescue the two civilian hostages in an unspecified area of Afghanistan.
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According to USA officials, a team of American troops flew through the night to reach a compound where the hostages were believed to be held, but they were unable to locate them once they arrived.
Two professors – one American, the other Australian – were seized from their vehicle on Aug 7 in Kabul, as gunmen wearing police uniforms smashed the passenger window and hauled them away. The intelligence that triggered the rescue mission was “incomplete”, said one official, explaining why they were not found where they were thought to be.
US forces attempted to rescue two civilian hostages in Afghanistan last month, but the captives were not at the location and no USA personnel or civilians were harmed in the attempt, the Pentagon said on Thursday. Cook said no US personnel or civilians were injured and added that he would not provide any more details “in order to protect the safety of hostages and operational security”. “No US personnel or civilians were harmed”.
The officials said that when US commandos arrived at the location, they killed seven enemy fighters. “Military hostage rescue operations are inherently sensitive and unsafe and careful deliberation went into this mission”.
Because of that lack of agreement within the community, they did not send an earlier request for approval to proceed with the rescue mission to President Obama.
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“Military hostage rescue operations are inherently sensitive and risky and careful deliberation went into this mission”, Cook said.
