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1st LD: U.S. says January anti-terrorist operation killed hostages

Xinhua, April 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

The White House said Thursday that a U.S. counterterrorism operation in January killed two hostages, one American and one Italian, held by al-Qaida in the border region of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"It is with tremendous sorrow that we recently concluded that a U.S. government counterterrorism operation in January killed two innocent hostages held by al-Qaida," said a White House statement.

"Analysis of all available information has led the Intelligence Community to judge with high confidence that the operation accidentally killed both hostages," said the statement.

According to the statement, the slain hostages were Warren Weinstein, an American held by al-Qaida since 2011, and Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian national who had been an al-Qaida hostage since 2012.

"The president directed that the information being shared today, which was properly classified until now, be declassified and shared with the American people," said the statement, adding that U.S. President Barack Obama took full responsibility for the operations.

Meanwhile, the statement said two other Americans, an al-Qaida leader and a prominent member of the group, were recently killed in U.S. counterterrorism operations in the same region. Endi