Post date: Jan 12, 2013 12:33:35 PM
The French government says a hostage held in Somalia for over three years is "believed" killed during a rescue attempt, along with a soldier and 17 Somalis.
AL-KATAIB - A French secret agent held hostage in Somalia since 2009 is "believed" to have been killed, along with a French soldier, during a rescue attempt by French armed forces, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Saturday (January 12).
He said one French soldier died in the operation and a second had been taken captive.But the Harakat Al-Shabaab Al-Mujahideen insurgent group who were holding Denis Allex said in a statement that he was still alive and being held at a location far from the base where French military helicopters attacked overnight.
The al Qaeda-linked insurgents also said they were holding an injured French soldier.
Both sides described a fierce firefight during the raid on the Horn of Africa country that French said was carried out by the DGSE intelligence agency that Allex worked for.
The French Defence Ministry said 17 Somali fighters were killed in the fighting, which came on the same day France carried out air strikes against al Qaeda linked rebels inMali in west Africa.
A video broadcast by al-Kataib showed Allex reading from a piece of paper saying the date was July 2012, and appealing for help from French President Francois Hollande.
"Mr President, I am still alive, but for how long? That depends upon you, for if you do not reach an agreement for my release, then I am afraid this will be the last message you receive from me. My life depends on you," he said.
Allex was one of two French intelligence officers from the DGSE who were kidnapped byal Shabaab in Mogadishu in July 2009 but one, Marc Aubriere, escaped a month later.Allex had been held ever since.