WASHINGTON, April 23 (UPI) — Two al-Qaida hostages, one American and one Italian, were accidentally killed near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border by a United States counterterrorism drone strike, the White House said Thursday.
American aid worker Warren Weinstein, an al-Qaida hostage since 2011, and Italian aid worker Giovanni Lo Porto, a hostage since 2012, were killed in the January strike. It is the first known instance of the U.S. accidentally killing hostages in a drone strike.
In a press conference Thursday morning, President Barack Obama took full responsibility for the operation and said officials did not know the two men were being held at the suspected al-Qaida camp. He said he ordered the operation to be declassified so the families of both men could better understand the circumstances, adding they “deserve to know the truth.”
“I profoundly regret what happened,” he said, later adding “It is a cruel and bitter truth that in the fog of war … mistakes and sometimes deadly mistakes can happen.”
Weinstein, 73, was abducted just before ending his stint with U.S. Agency for International Development Lo Porto was taken soon after arriving in Pakistan for humanitarian work.
“The operation targeted an al-Qa’ida-associated compound, where we had no reason to believe either hostage was present, located in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan. No words can fully express our regret over this terrible tragedy,” the White House said in a written statement.
The incident underscores the challenges faced by the Central Intelligence Agency and its covert drone operations, expanded under President Obama in 2009. Human rights organizations have chastised the operations as a threat to civilians.
In addition to the hostages, officials believe American-born al Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn and Ahmed Farouq, an American who was an al-Qaida leader, were killed in separate drone strikes earlier this year.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.