US, S African hostages killed during Yemen rescue bid

ADEN, Dec 6 (agencies): UK-born US journalist Luke Somers and South African teacher Pierre Korkie have been killed by al-Qaeda militants in Yemen during a failed rescue bid.
Saturday's operation was carried by joint US and Yemeni special forces in the southern, Shabwa region.
US President Barack Obama condemned Mr Somers's death as a "barbaric murder".
They were being held by militants from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), regarded by the US as one of the deadliest offshoots of al-Qaeda.
The group is based in eastern Yemen and has built up support amid the unrest which has beset the impoverished country since the overthrow of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) had Thursday threatened to execute Somers, who was kidnapped more than a year ago in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, within three days if Washington failed to meet unspecified demands.
"The callous disregard for Luke's life is more proof of the depths of AQAP's depravity, and further reason why the world must never cease in seeking to defeat their evil ideology," Obama said in a statement.
South African hostage Pierre Korkie was also killed in the raid, according to a charity that had been negotiating his release.
The Gift of the Givers said that Korkie's death came a day before he was due to be freed after more than a year in captivity.
"The psychological and emotional devastation to (his wife) Yolande and her family will be compounded by the knowledge that Pierre was to be released by Al-Qaeda tomorrow," it said.
The South African couple, who had worked as teachers in Yemen for four years, were seized by Al-Qaeda in May 2013 in the city of Taez. The wife was released in January following mediation by Gift of the Givers.
The charity said logistical arrangements had already been put in place to fly Pierre Korkie out of Yemen under diplomatic cover after negotiations.
"It is even more tragic that the words we used in a conversation with Yolande at 5.59 this morning was 'the wait is almost over'.
"Three days ago we told her 'Pierre will be home for Christmas'. We certainly did not mean it in the manner it has unfolded."
Ten militants were killed in the joint operation in Shabwa province in southeast Yemen, Yemen's defence ministry said.
A tribal leader said soldiers were seen parachuting into the area and residents reported heavy clashes.
Obama said that since the abduction of Somers 15 months ago, Washington had been using "every tool at our disposal" to try to secure his release.
"Luke was a photojournalist who sought through his images to convey the lives of Yemenis to the outside world," Obama added.
"He came to Yemen in peace and was held against his will and threatened by a despicable terrorist organisation."
Washington has a long-standing policy of not negotiating with hostage-takers or paying ransoms.
The United States has said that American and Yemeni forces had already tried unsuccessfully to rescue Somers last month.
According to Yemen's defence ministry, Al-Qaeda moved hostages, including the US journalist, a Briton and a South African, days before that US-Yemeni raid in southeastern Hadramawt province.
The whereabouts of the Briton are unknown.
Yemeni officials said eight other hostages were freed in the earlier operation.
Yemen is a key US ally in the fight against Al-Qaeda, allowing Washington to conduct a long-standing drone war against the group on its territory.
AQAP is considered by Washington to be the most dangerous affiliate of Al-Qaeda.
The execution threat by AQAP followed the murder of five Western hostages since August by the Islamic State group that controls parts of Syria and Iraq.
Two US journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff, American aid worker Peter Kassig and British aid workers Alan Henning and David Haines were all beheaded.
Al-Qaeda has exploited instability in impoverished Yemen since a 2011 uprising forced president Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.
In recent years there has been a growing number of abductions in Yemen by Al-Qaeda.
The militants remain active in southern and eastern regions of Yemen despite several military campaigns by government forces.
Al-Qaeda militants have allied with Sunni tribesmen in southern Yemen to halt the advance of Shiite Huthi militias who seized Sanaa in September unopposed, and who have since extended their control to coastal areas and regions south of the capital.
President Barack Obama  Saturday condemned the murder of US journalist Luke Somers who was killed in Yemen during a failed raid aimed at freeing him from his Al-Qaeda kidnappers.
"The United States strongly condemns the barbaric murder of Luke Somers at the hands of Al-Qaeda terrorists during a rescue operation," Obama said in a statement. "I offer my deepest condolences to Luke's family and to his loved ones."