Captive Briton accidentally killed by rescuers
A British aid worker held captive in Afghanistan may have been accidentally killed by a hand grenade tossed by U.S. forces during a daring rescue attempt; it was initially thought that the 26-year old woman died when one of her captive exploded a suicide vest he was wearing, but video evidence now suggest the captive was killed by the forces that came to rescue her; a full U.S./U.K. investigation — which would last several days — was being launched; it will be led by Maj Gen Joseph L Votel, the chief of staff at U.S. Special Operations Command and the results are expected to be made public
Aid worker Linda Norgrove, held captive in this location in Kunar province // Source: nydailynews.com
British aid worker Linda Norgrove was accidentally killed by U.S. forces during a rescue mission in Afghanistan, British prime minister David Cameron has said.
International forces originally said she died on Friday when one of her captors detonated a suicide vest.
The BBC reports that the prime minister said new details had come to light suggesting her death may have resulted from a U.S. grenade. Cameron said he had spoken to her family about the “deeply distressing” news
Norgrove, 36, who was employed by U.S. aid group DAI, was seized in the Dewagal valley in the Kunar province on 26 September. Three local staff were kidnapped with her when the two cars they were traveling in were ambushed. The staff were released unharmed last week.
It had been thought that she was killed by her abductors just as U.S. forces reached the compound in which she was being held.
Cameron said Gen David Petraeus, the top allied commander in Afghanistan, had telephoned him on Monday morning to say she could have died as a result of a grenade detonated by the taskforce during the assault.
At a Downing Street press conference, Cameron said twelve meetings of the government emergencies committee, Cobra, had taken place before Foreign Secretary William Hague and the United States agreed the rescue attempt should go ahead. This decision was then approved by the prime minister.
He said: “The decision to launch this rescue operation was not an easy one. But I am clear that Linda’s life was in grave danger from the moment she was taken. Those on the ground and in London feared that she was going to be passed up the terrorist chain which would increase further the already high risk that she would be killed.”
Cameron said a full U.S./U.K. investigation — which would last several days — was being launched.
It will be led by Maj Gen Joseph L Votel, the chief of staff at U.S. Special Operations Command and the results are expected to be made public.
“We must get to the bottom of what happened and make sure first of all that the family get this information and they know exactly how their wonderful daughter died,” Cameron said. “I will obviously go over in my own mind a hundred times as to whether it was the right decision but I profoundly believe it was given the advice and the information and everything we knew about Linda’s dreadful situation having been taken hostage.”
U.S. military sources later told the BBC that surveillance footage taken from different angles shows “conflicting evidence” about what killed Norgrove. They said the investigation may find she was killed by a U.S. grenade, an Afghan suicide vest, or both.
