Instead, his widow is mourning her “dearest friend and companion … torn from me and the children” when he was killed Saturday along with American photojournalist Luke Somers during a U.S.-led rescue attempt. Ten al-Qaida miltants also were slain in the raid, Yemeni security officials said Sunday. The security officials spoke on condition of anonymity.
About 40 U.S. special operations forces were involved in the half-hour rescue attempt in Shabwa province, which followed U.S. drone strikes in the area east of the capital of Sanaa, U.S. officials said. After a firefight with militants, the rescuers eventually reached the men and found them alive but gravely wounded. They both died shortly after, as medics tried to save them.
Korkie’s body was being flown back to South Africa and was scheduled to arrive today, the government said. Yolande Korkie said in a statement that it will help her and the couple’s two children, Peter and Lize, reach “some sort of closure.”
No American forces were killed or seriously injured in the raid. Yemen’s government said four of its forces were wounded.
Korkie was kidnapped in the Yemeni city of Taiz in May 2013, along with his wife, Yolande, who was doing relief work there. She was released in January without ransom as a result of negotiations by the South African humanitarian relief group Gift of the Givers.
Before the rescue attempt, tribal leaders in the Yemeni city of Aden were preparing to fetch Korkie. His captors dropped their ransom fee of $3 million after realizing that Korkie and the negotiators had no money. Instead, Gift of the Givers had raised a $200,000 “facilitation fee” for the tribal leaders working directly with the al-Qaida militants to release Korkie.
In her statement, Yolande Korkie chose not to blame anyone for her husband’s death.
“Will we win anything if we hate and accuse? Will this return Pierre to us? No,” she said.
“So today we choose to forgive. We choose to love. We choose to rejoice in the memories of Pierre and keep him alive in our hearts,” she added.
About the Author
