Philip Walton, 27, was taken from his farm in Massalata in southern Niger early Tuesday morning by kidnappers armed with AK-47 assault rifles who demanded a $1million ransom from the man's father.
The Defense Department confirmed on Saturday that the operation was successfully undertaken by elite commandos from SEAL Team 6 in a daring early-morning raid after they tracked the kidnappers phones.
According to ABC, all but one of the seven captors was killed in the mission, described as a 'precision' hostage rescue. 'They were all dead before they knew what happened,' a source told the network.
President Trump tweeted his praise as the news of the rescue broke. 'Big win for our very elite U.S. Special Forces today. Details to follow!' he wrote.
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The Defense Department stated that no military personnel were injured in the operation and that it had been conducted with the aid of the Niger and Nigerian governments, in an effort to rescue Walton quickly before he could be moved.
'We had to get him before any potential trade or sale,' one U.S. official told Fox News.
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The New York Times reports that about 30 Navy commandos parachuted into the remote area where the kidnappers had taken Walton early Saturday morning. They hiked for three miles until they came upon the captors’ small encampment. An intense but brief gunfight followed in which one captor escaped.
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Walton was not harmed and whisked from the camp to a makeshift landing zone where a U.S. helicopter swiftly brought him to safety.
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'This American citizen is safe and is now in the care of the U.S. Department of State. No U.S military personnel were injured during the operation,' the Defense department said in a statement, not naming Walton.
'We will never abandon any American taken hostage,' added Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
'Thanks to the extraordinary courage and capabilities of our military, the support of our intelligence professionals, and our diplomatic efforts, the hostage will be reunited with his family.'
A U.S. official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the rescue and spoke on condition of anonymity, said there were no solid indications that Walton's kidnapping was terrorism-related and that it was instead 'trending toward a kidnapping for ransom'.
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Officials said the U.S. government said it was concerned that the hostage could be passed to another terrorist group, or that the kidnapping could become a prolonged hostage-taking, fearing a group of Islamist militants aligned with either al Qaeda or ISIS.
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Walton is now back in Niger and staying at the U.S. ambassador's residence in Niamey, according to the official, who clarified that no ransom was paid.
The hostage rescued is part of President Trump's exceptional accomplishments, Kayleigh McEnany said Saturday.
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"It was a successful operation to rescue an American hostage. We are so glad to see it. Under this president, we've rescued 55 hostages in 24 countries," McEnany told "Fox & Friends Weekend."
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