Nigeria

The SEAL Team 6 Rescue of Philip Walton and the Demonstration Effect

During the early morning hours of October 31, 2020, members of the US Navy SEAL Team 6, also known as DEVGRU (Development Group), carried out a dramatic hostage rescue operation in Northern Nigeria to recover the kidnapped American citizen named Philip Walton.

According to reports, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) supplied the intelligence that led to the whereabouts of Walton, and components of the Marine Special Operations in Africa assisted in locating him. Because of their responsibilities in the region of West Africa, SEAL Team 6 was selected to carry out the operation.

Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs spokesman Jonathan Hoffman told reporters in a statement that “US forces conducted a hostage rescue operation during the early hours of October 31 in northern Nigeria to recover an American citizen held hostage by a group of armed men”. Hoffman added that Walton “…is safe and is now in the care of the US Department of State.”

These operations are essential in ensuring the safety of the hostage, and of course, it speaks about the national security of the country involved. With this rescue mission, US pledged its commitment to defending its citizens and national interests wherever they may be.

What happened to Philip Walton?

Philip Walton, age 27, resided in a tiny village of Massalata in Niger with his wife and daughter. Massalata is located close to the border of Nigeria. US officials said he was kidnapped on October 26, 2020. Near the edge of Niger and Nigeria, it is noted that Walton maintains a flock of camels, lambs, chickens, and mango trees. As per the reports, six bandits armed with AK-47 assault rifles rode up on motorbikes to the house where he lived. They then took him captive.

The US intelligence community was able to track him down in Northern Nigeria by following the clues it left behind. As a result, the green light was given to the US Special Operations Forces not long after former US President Donald Trump was briefed on the situation. Although it was a “tough” decision, in the end, the president chose to go ahead with the operation because he placed the utmost importance on protecting American citizens. According to the sources, the aim of the kidnappers was either to demand a ransom payment or to sell Philip Walton to one of the terrorist groups operating in Nigeria.

The Rescue Attempt

The rescue mission carried out by US Special Operations commenced with a parachute insertion into the area. In most cases, this form of insertion is only utilized in exceptional circumstances, such as when no other covert insertion methods are immediately accessible. Additionally, it is used when the forces entrusted to the raid need to go into the target location on aircraft with a greater range from a substantial distance. During the attack, there was around 30 personnel who were a part of special operations. After the rescue team had successfully parachuted into the region, they set out on foot approximately three miles to the objective. After what was described as a “short but intense firefight,” Walton was carried to the evacuation spot. From there, helicopters transported the captive and the rescue team to a secure location. According to a defense official, of the six kidnappers involved in the abduction and during Walton’s liberation, five of them were killed, while the remaining one managed to escape.

U.S. Navy SEALs are deployed worldwide, conducting missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (Source: U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class George R. Kusner., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Post-Operation Reaction

After the nerve-racking operation, the rescue mission received glowing praise, including former president Donald Trump who said in a tweet that the successful operation was a “Big win for our very elite US Special Forces today. Details to follow!”

During a separate event, he also stated while addressing a crowd in Pennsylvania that “The kidnappers wished they had never done it,” which is something of an understatement since only one of the kidnappers survived.

This successful mission conducted an entire continent away in the remote reaches of a country like Nigeria offers several lessons. The Demonstration Effect can affect the behavior of others who witness an event or the actions of others and the consequences that go with them. The mission to rescue of Walton was something of a marvel in terms of the operational art of war. It may have also been a mission only the United States could pull off successfully.

The long War on Terror had honed the skills of Special Operations Forces like SEAL Team 6 to a very fine point of competence and proficiency.
Our worldwide network of bases provides the Air Force with a global reach, able to send aircraft just about anywhere in the world we might need to conduct operations.
Our intelligence agencies were able to provide timely and accurate information that allowed planners to craft a successful mission.
Our network of satellites was able to provide real-time data of conditions on the ground prior to and even during the raid itself
Political leadership was able to give the green light to the operation with a high degree of confidence that it would be successful.
A successful mission like this creates a deterrent effect. Kidnappers want the ransom money, not a SEAL Team shooting them in the face.

Amnesty International: Nigeria’s Military Raped, Killed Civilians

Amnesty International, the human rights organization says the Nigerian military has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the continuing war against Islamic insurgent groups.

The charges leveled against the Nigerian military include rape, torture, and the killing of civilians. The military is fighting not only Boko Haram but the Islamic State West Africa. The military denies all charges.

The crimes were perpetrated for years and have continued despite a presidential inquiry established last August whose findings have not been made public, said the watchdog.
In a statement, the Nigerian military described Amnesty’s findings as “a false report on fictitious rape incidents in IDP (internally displaced person) camps in the North East region of Nigeria.”
A presidency statement said Amnesty’s report lacks credibility.
The 89-page report is based on hundreds of interviews and is replete with accounts of sexual violence, torched villages and other abuses.
“The soldiers, they betrayed us, they said that we should come out of from our villages,” said a woman whose name was given as Yakura in the report. “They said it would be safer and that they would give us a secure place to stay. But when we came, they betrayed us. They detained our husbands and then they raped us women,” said Yakura, who fled Andara village, Borno state, in December 2016.
Nigeria has waged a nine-year war against Boko Haram and its now more powerful offshoot, Islamic State West Africa. The country has fought alongside Cameroon, Chad and Niger and been supported by the United States, Great Britain and France.
The conflict has killed more than 30,000 people and spawned one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
For years, rights groups, aid organizations and journalists have documented military abuses, with little resulting action from the armed forces.
According to Amnesty’s report, interviewees “said that when the military conducted operations in their villages, they burnt down homes and opened fire at remaining residents indiscriminately.”
Often the military would forcibly take people to camps for people displaced by the conflict, the report said. People the military detained without food and water would die, the watchdog said.
Many of the women were held for six months to two years without charge, some were tortured and beaten, and some, along with 32 children, died, the report said.

Amnesty International claims in their report that hunger, sickness and sexual violence remain an issue at all of the displacement camps and occurs on a large scale.

To read the entire article from Voice of America, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Nigerian Troops Rescue More Than 1000 People from Boko Haram

An ongoing battle between Nigeria’s military and Boko Haram resulted in more than 1,000 people being rescued from the Islamist militant group in the northeast of the country. Nigerian officials claimed to have killed 50 of the terrorists.

It said the hostages consisted mainly of women and children, as well as some young men who had forced to fight for the group. Reuters was unable to independently verify the details contained in the military statement.
The military, in an emailed statement, said troops rescued hostages from Malamkari, Amchaka, Walasa and Gora villages of Bama Local Government Area in the northeastern state of Borno.
It said the operation was conducted in conjunction with troops from neighbouring countries who make up the Multinational Joint Task Force.
The government has been saying since December 2015 that the militants had been defeated. But the group, which has kidnapped thousands since it began an insurgency in 2009 aimed at creating an Islamic state in the northeast, has carried out high-profile attacks in the last few months.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office in May 2015 vowing to end Boko Haram’s insurgency, has made it a priority to improve security in Africa’s most populous country but insurgents have continued to carry out suicide bombings, gun raids and kidnappings.

Nigerian troops of 22 Brigade deployed in Operation LAFIYA DOLE worked in conjunction with troops from Cameroon in the Multinational Joint Task Force.

To read the entire article from Africa News, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia Nigerian troops burnish a captured Boko Haram flag

Nigeria’s Military Rescues 76 Schoolgirls After Boko Haram Attack

Boko Haram fighters attack a village in northeast Nigeria, kidnapping 76 schoolgirls and killed two others before the Nigerian military reacted and rescued the girls on Wednesday local government officials reported. Another 13 girls are still missing.

The Nigerian military rescued 76 schoolgirls and recovered the bodies of two others on Wednesday, after the students went missing during a Boko Haram attack on a village, three parents, a resident and a local government official told Reuters.
“Everybody is celebrating their coming with songs and praises to God almighty,” said Babagana Umar, one of the parents whose daughter had disappeared. “The only sad news is that two girls were dead and no explanation.”
The rescued girls were returned to the village of Dapchi late on Wednesday evening, Umar and other residents said.
At least 13 students may still be missing, and Reuters was unable to determine how the two girls died.
Earlier on Wednesday, sources told Reuters that 91 people were unaccounted for after a roll-call at their school on Tuesday.
Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram attacked Dapchi in the northeastern state of Yobe on Monday evening.
Nigerian authorities often deny or downplay such incidents, including the Chibok girl kidnapping and more recent abductions, as well as the scale of Boko Haram attacks in the northeast.
Nigeria is still haunted by Boko Haram’s abduction of more than 270 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in 2014.
That case drew global attention to the nine-year insurgency, which has sparked what the United Nations has called one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

The fighting in Nigeria has claimed over 20,000 lives and has displaced more than two million people since the rise of Boko Haram in 2009. Of the girls abducted in 2014 about 60 escaped and another 100 were later released. The remainder’s whereabouts are unknown but Boko Haram released a video showing the girls stating they wished to remain and not go home.

To read the entire article from Reuters, click here:

Photo: Screen shot Boko Haram video