Abducted American pastor saved after a shootout in South Africa

An American pastor, who was abducted by armed men during a church service in South Africa last week, was rescued after a “high -intensity shooting” leaving three people killed, authorities say.

Josh Sullivan was found unharmed in the town of GQEBERHA in East Cape on Tuesday night, the 45-year-old was grabbed last Thursday.

There were no immediate details about the abductors suspected of being familiar with family movements.

In the last decade, there was a 264% increase in abductions in South Africa, according to police statistics.

In a statement published on Wednesday morning, the elite police unit of South Africa, known as Hawks, said Sullivan was rescued after a “checked intelligence, whereby a coordinated team … switched quickly to the identified location”.

Hawks spokesman Avele Fumba said that when the officers approached the house, the suspects tried to escape inside a vehicle as they opened fire.

“The officers responded with tactical accuracy, which led to a high-intensity shooting, in which three unidentified suspects were fatally injured,” said Mr Fumba.

The family and friends of G -n Sullivan had made fearless requests for his safe return after his abduction.

Jeremy Hall, the spokesman for Sullivan’s family, told the local Timeslive newspaper that he was in the church with his wife and their children when he was abducted.

“They knew his name,” he said at the time.

While the initial reports were stated that there was no later request for ransom, the abductors made a request that caused Hawks’s intervention.

The department, a branch within the South Africa police, focuses on investigating organized, economic and other serious crimes.

Sulivan describes himself as a “church missionary for planting” on his personal website.

He says that in 2018 he moved to South Africa with his wife and children to create a church for people who speak Xhosa.