Afghanistan – U.S. May Have Killed British Aid Worker

Afghanistan – Kidnapped British aid worker Linda Norgrove may have been killed by a grenade thrown by U.S.. special forces sent to rescue her in Afghanistan late last week, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday.

U.K. and U.S. officials said over the weekend that Ms. Norgrove had been killed by her captors. Mr. Cameron said this was now “highly likely to have been incorrect.”

Mr. Cameron said he has since been informed by Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, that Ms. Norgrove may have been killed by American forces. Mr. Cameron said that U.S. forces had been used in the operation rather than British forces because Ms. Norgrove was being held in an area where U.S. troops were based. The final decision to make the rescue attempt was made by British officials.

“I am clear that the best chance of saving Linda’s life was to go ahead,” said Mr. Cameron, paying tribute to U.S. forces. “Ultimately the responsibility for Linda’s death lies with those who took her hostage.”

The slain aid worker, 36 years old, was travelling along a main road in Kunar province when she was abducted in September by a local Islamist militant faction. She was working with Development Alternatives Inc., one of the largest development contractors working for the U.S. State Department in Afghanistan. Coalition forces had undertaken a major effort to locate Ms. Norgrove. They pinpointed her position Friday night and stormed the residential compound where she was being held.

The prime minister said there would be a full U.S. and U.K. investigation into the death. Mr. Cameron said he had spoken to Ms. Norgrove’s family about the “deeply distressing news.” Ms. Norgrove was brought up in Scotland’s remote Western Isles and had spent her working life with aid organizations and the United Nations.

Ms. Norgrove’s abduction highlighted the risks faced by development workers in Afghanistan, who often travel with far less security than foreign officials or soldiers. She was kidnapped on Sept. 26 when insurgents ambushed the unarmored vehicle in which she was traveling.

In August a British doctor was shot dead with nine U.S., German and Afghan colleagues after delivering medical supplies to a remote part of Afghanistan. Hostage rescues have proven deadly before. Last September, British special forces rescued a kidnapped New York Times reporter but his translator was killed in the attempt.