KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- British hostage Linda Norgrove may have been killed by a grenade tossed by U.S. forces trying to rescue her in Afghanistan, Britain's prime minister said.
Originally, Norgrove's death was pinned on her captors, but British Prime Minister David Cameron said Monday the 36-year-old Scottish aid worker taken captive in Afghanistan last month, may have died during a rescue attempt by U.S. Special Operations Forces, The Washington Post reported.
Cameron said he received a call about the new information from U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
"We must get to the bottom of what happened, first of all so the family gets this information and knows exactly how their wonderful daughter died," Cameron said during a news conference.
He said the decision to initiate the rescue operation wasn't easy, 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."
Norgrove was taken captive Sept. 26 but Foreign Secretary William Hague revealed she was killed during a rescue mission by U.S. forces Friday, the BBC reported. Norgrove, who worked for a U.S. aid group in Jalalabad, was seized with three local staffers. The three locals were released.
The rescue mission had involved U.S. forces with British officials offering advice, the BBC said. Tribal elders involved in negotiating her release had apparently asked NATO not to intervene.
