![]() |
One of the Hostages |
The White House has said that a US counterterrorism operation in January killed two hostages who were being held by al-Qaeda. Dr Warren Weinstein, an American held by the militants since 2011, was one of those killed in the raid in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The other hostage was Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian held since 2012.
President Barack Obama described it as a painful loss that he profoundly regretted. He said that the US had launched the operation in the belief that the target was an al-Qaeda compound with no civilians present, but that the militants had been hiding the hostages there.