MOGADISHU, Somalia, March 12 (UPI) -- Several soldiers from Somalia's Puntland region were killed in a failed attempt to rescue a Danish family whose yacht was seized by pirates, officials said.
The soldiers walked into an ambush Friday as they tried to reach the pirates' land base, the BBC reported. They were from Puntland, a semi-autonomous area in northeastern Somalia.
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The Independent reported Saturday the pirates threatened to kill Jan Quist Johansen and his family following the botched rescue.
Johansen, his wife, three children and two other adults were captured Feb. 24, two days after four U.S. nationals died when the military tried to free them. The group had been on a sailing voyage in the Indian Ocean.
