The White House has said that a US counterterrorism operation in January accidentally killed two hostages who were being held by al-Qaeda.
Warren Weinstein, an American, and Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian, were killed in the raid in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
President Barack Obama described it as a painful loss he profoundly regretted.
Two other Americans thought to be al-Qaeda members were also killed, one of them in the same raid.
The White House said Ahmed Farouq, an al-Qaeda leader, was killed in that operation and Adam Gadahn, once regarded as a spokesman for the militant group, was killed in a separate raid.
Unnamed officials told Associated Press the attack that killed the hostages was a CIA drone strike.
The president, speaking at the White House about the operation that killed the hostages, said the US had launched the raid in the belief the target was an
al-Qaeda compound with no civilians present.
al-Qaeda compound with no civilians present.
As commander-in-chief, he said, he took "full responsibility" for the operation.
The White House said compensation would be paid to the families of the hostages.
Mr Weinstein's wife Elaine said in a statement the family was "devastated".
"Those who took Warren captive over three years ago bear ultimate responsibility," she added.
No comments:
Post a Comment