U.S. raid on Somalia frees American, Danish captives.

A U.S. military helicopter raid has freed an American and a Dane being held hostage by pirates in Somalia, two Western officials say.

The overnight raid by at least two U.S. helicopters resulted in a shootout with the captors and the freeing of the two hostages, according to two officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Pirates reported a gun battle with several casualties.

The Danish Refugee Council confirmed that hostages Jessica Buchanan — an American — and Poul Hagen Thisted — a Dane — were freed "during an operation in Somalia," reports said.

Buchanan and Thisted were working for the Danish Demining Group when they were kidnapped from the town of Galkayo in the semi-autonomous Galmudug region in October, Reuters reported.

"The Danish Refugee Council hereby confirms that Jessica Buchanan and Poul Hagen Thisted have been rescued earlier today during an operation in Somalia," the aid group said in a statement.

The networking website LinkedIn.com lists Hagen as having been stationed in Hargeisa, Somaliland, since June 2009 as manager of a joint program between the Danish Refugee Council and FinChurcAid.

An official told The Associated Press that the raid was carried out by U.S. military forces. A second official said the helicopters and the hostages landed after the raid at a U.S. base in the tiny East African nation of Djibouti. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because the information had not been released publicly.

Maj. Kelly Cahalan, a military spokeswoman at U.S. Africa Command in Stuttgart, Germany, said she had no information on the reported raid. A spokeswoman at the Pentagon had no immediate comment.

The two hostages had been held in Somalia since October. The Danish Refugee Council said both are unharmed "and at a safe location."

A pirate who gave his name as Bilal Hussein said he had spoken to pirates at the scene of the raid and they reported that nine pirates had been killed. A second pirate who gave his name as Ahmed Hashi said two helicopters attacked at about 2 a.m. local time at the site where the hostages were being held about 20 kilometres north of the Somali town of Adow.