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The Navy marksmen had seconds to make their shots in choppy seas after dark when one of the pirates was seen levelling his AK47 at Richard Phillips.
The full details of the dramatic end to the five-day hostage crisis emerged yesterday as Somalia's pirates vowed revenge, raising concerns for 230 hostages being held.
"From now on, if we capture foreign ships and their respective countries try to attack us, we will kill them," said Jamac Habeb, a 30-year-old pirate from the Somali pirate town of Eyl. "America is now our No 1 enemy."
No hostage has been seriously injured or killed by the pirates, but there were fears that may change after the US operation, which began on Sunday afternoon after negotiations to free Mr Phillips, the captain of the Maersk Alabama, broke down.
A team of elite US Navy Seals parachuted into the sea near the USS Bainbridge, the missile destroyer that was towing the lifeboat holding Mr Phillips and his captors on a 100ft line after it ran out of fuel.
Mr Phillips's hands were bound and the pirates, according a US official, were "becoming increasingly agitated -- they weren't getting what they wanted".
President Barack Obama had already authorised the Bainbridge's commander, Frank Castellano, to use deadly force if Mr Phillips's life was in "imminent danger". Just before 7.20pm, that moment arrived. One of the pirates appeared to point his Kalashnikov at the 53-year-old captain's back.
At the same time, the snipers had rare clear lines of fire through their night-vision scopes at each of the pirates.
The order was given, and they fired simultaneously. Shortly afterwards, rescuers slid down ropes into the lifeboat and found three dead pirates. Mr Phillips was unharmed and preparing to fly home to his family in Vermont yesterday..more,,http://www.independent.ie/world-news/africa/pirates-say-theyll-kill-hostages-after-bold-us-rescue-1707389.html
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