A British aid worker abducted by gunmen in Afghanistan last month was killed by her captors during a rescue attempt, Britain's foreign minister confirmed today.
Linda Norgrove (36) had been held hostage in eastern Afghanistan since September 26 after being kidnapped with three of her Afghan colleagues in Kunar province, a rugged region bordering on Pakistan held by the Taliban.
"It is with deep sadness that I must confirm that Linda Norgrove, the British aid worker ... was killed at the hands of her captors in the course of a rescue attempt last night," Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement.
Britain has 9,500 troops in Afghanistan, part of a Nato-led force of about 150,000 mostly American troops fighting a now nine-year conflict in Afghanistan against Taliban insurgents.
Referring to the rescue attempt, Mr Hague said that Britain had worked with allies to act on information that Norgrove's life was in danger. It was not immediately clear who staged the mission to rescue Ms Norgrove.
Several insurgents were killed in yesterday's attempt to free her. She and three Afghan colleagues were abducted last month in rugged eastern Kunar province, a lawless area bordering Pakistan where insurgent activity is high.
A foreign office source said US forces conducted the rescue attempt and that no British troops were involved. Media said that American special forces had mounted the operation.
Ms Norgrove was abducted on Sept. 26 but there had been a media blackout in order not to raise the value of the worker in the eyes of her captors.
Mr Hague said responsibility for Norgrove's death rested "squarely with the hostage takers" and that Britain had worked with allies to act on information that her life was in danger. The Foreign Office declined to elaborate. British Prime Minister David Cameron defended the decision to mount a rescue attempt.
"Decisions on operations to free hostages are always difficult. But where a British life is in such danger, and where we and our allies can act, I believe it is right to try," he said in a statement.
It was unclear whether the Taliban were behind the kidnapping. Norgrove was regional director of a USAID project designed to create jobs and strengthen the economy in unstable areas, a plan seen as key to robbing the Taliban of support among the Afghan population.
She spoke Dari, an Afghan version of Persian.