UK aid worker Linda Norgrove killed in Afghanistan

British aid worker killed in attempted rescue

www.bbc.co.uk

Linda Norgrove, 36, who was employed by US aid group DAI, was kidnapped with three local staff last month.

In a statement, Foreign Secretary William Hague said the aid worker was "killed at the hands of her captors in the course of a rescue attempt".

He said: "Working with our Allies we received information about where Linda was being held and we decided that, given the danger she was facing, her best chance of safe release was to act on that information.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Not much to say about this, other than that it is very sad and our thoughts must be with her family.

The rescue attempt was conducted by US special forces but British "advisors" were involved in the rescue operation; typical language for attached special forces personnel who offer advice but are not involved directly in the combat operation itself.

To pre-empt any comments questioning the expertise of the American soldiers; it would be very inappropriate and unfair to do so as the odds are always stacked against you in a hostage rescue.

Though I am curious as to which unit they are from and why British forces were not used.

www.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

It is a sad day for alot of people, her friends and family, the country, those invovled on the rescue......and others I am sure I'm forgetting to mention. If she was killed by the hands of her captors, how many of them are breathing, seems only fair they are all tango uniform. If they aren't, then in my opinion, the mission isn't over.

reply to post by adifferentbreed


I would be very surprised indeed if any of the captors had survived, killing all of them is pretty much standard practice and thoroughly deserved as I'm sure many would agree, though they may have useful information should any have been captured.

But it is debateable whether from their point of view, it would have been better to survive.

reply to post by Soshh


This is of course a very sad ending however certain UK sources have indicated that Miss Norgrove had links to US security services.

Personally, if was in Ms. Norgroves shoes and having a rusty knife hanging over my neck, I would hope the military and governments would make every effort to rescue me. It is sad that she had to be caught up in this and lost her life, but she knew the job was dangerous as all journalists and aide workers should when taking assignments in hostile and forbidding places like Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.

I applaud the US/UK governments and US special forces for their expediate act of courage in seeking the safe rescue of this selfless aide worker who put their life on hold to assist Afghans as they journey to a better quality of life amid the carnage and chaos that has engulfed their country. We need to can the talk of any sinister intent on the part of this aide worker, or if she was in cohoots with any foreign intelligence agency, because that is all speculation at the moment.

What we do know is that a woman lost her life as she set out to do good in one of the harshest countries on the planet. With that in mind, she ought to be given respect and our deepest condolences. Lets spare the politics for a moment. She was snuffed out by the criminals who took her under force of arms and made her hostage. The fault does not lie on the Special Forces who risked their lives to rescue the woman safely from captivity.

This is only what I THOUGHT I heard comign from one of the news channels, so don't quote me on it.

Apparently the British forces thought it was too risky to execute a raid, whilst American forces said it was neccesary, the British Govt. accepted the US decision and this is why it was US forces involved.

Though as I say, I was in another room busy decorating when I heard that so it could be a bunch of rubbish, usually is coming from me


Either way, it's a terrible outcome and the likely outcome whoever had attempted the raid, and also the likely outcome if there had not been a raid at all. Just to make it clear I put no blamer on anyone for this

reply to post by StevenDye


Channel 4 news spoke to one of the 3 Afghan hostages, who said that the rescue operation was dangerous and unnecessary.

Afghan special forces were also involved in the operation..

Obviously a sad ending to this incident thoughts go out to her family and friends. Not going to knock the UK or the US Special forces as both of them do a good job that only a few people can handle. What i would like to know from ATS users, in these situationswhere innocent aid workers are getting kidnapped, would it be a good idea to negotiate deals with the kidnappers. Now im not saying its the right thing, if sitting on the fence whether its a good idea or not. At the end of the day this lady wasnt a trained soldier had no idea of use of weapons or no idea of making a plan to escape, she was an aid worker helping people out in one of the most dangerous war zones to date. So what are peoples views?

Originally posted by plants99
reply to post by Soshh

 

This is of course a very sad ending however certain UK sources have indicated that Miss Norgrove had links to US security services.

I'd be interested to hear which sources claimed this. As for the usual 'Our Special Forces are better then yours' crap, bear in mind US, UK, Afghan, and other NATO units were all looking for this Lady.

The BBC are reporting that she died when her captors threw a grenade into the the room in which she was being held.

you got your story off the bbc , not a very accurate news as far as details are concerned, this woman was in charge of a 150,000,000 million dollar project to strengthen local economies for the U.S. aid group Development Alternatives.she was employed by americans and they screwed up in the first place, they didnt protect her like they should have and you think well only right they get her back to try and save face, yeh right, she is a brittish subject not an american, the SAS should have gone in , no ?????? asked and that absolute ok, i find it funny you try and defend american special forces like america did this good heroic deed, get your facts straight they didnt.

Originally posted by KDM_Souljah
you got your story off the bbc , not a very accurate news as far as details are concerned, this woman was in charge of a 150,000,000 million dollar project to strengthen local economies for the U.S. aid group Development Alternatives.she was employed by americans and they screwed up in the first place, they didnt protect her like they should have and you think well only right they get her back to try and save face, yeh right, she is a brittish subject not an american, the SAS should have gone in , no ?????? asked and that absolute ok, i find it funny you try and defend american special forces like america did this good heroic deed, get your facts straight they didnt.

But the BBC is usually fairly accurate on these matters. I would be interested in your version of events and whether you can point to any reliable sources of your own. On the BBC a source said that the rescue would have been given permission to go ahead because her life was in danger.

Regardless of the nationalities involved, I think special forces of all nations are highly professional and if the object was to save a hostage then that's what they would have been trying to do. You just cannot legislate against the actions of murders.

The fact that aid workers are targeted by the Taliban and others merely demonstrates the fact that their actions are working. Look at how many girls can now access education - that must really annoy you average Taliban. The Taliban flourish in anarchy where they can brutally oppress.

Regards

you didnt have anything to say about the fact that her employer the U.S goverment who left in the charge of a 150,000,000 million dollar project just left her without any security , no 1 has anything to say about that

As to the bbc being accurate and no bias an orginisation thats open to debate,you can look up lots of examples of the bbc being unreliable and slow to get news out there and my source was actualy and american news paper seattletimes.nwsource.com...

the way in which the BBC has conveyed this news to the mass's was bits of what happened and bits that suit whoevers intrests

reply to post by KDM_Souljah


The BBC has already reported every bit of information in that source. You need to get your facts straight. Hostage rescue is an -extremely- dangerous and -extremely- difficult business and it is never guaranteed to have a successful outcome. The SF put themselves in the line of fire to save this woman and that is to be commended.

You clearly haven't the slightest idea of how hard their job is. They did not necessarily "mess up", the odds are stacked so far against them that the circumstances have to be exactly right and the execution has to be spot on. If the hostage takers are determined to kill the hostages then the hostages will die, full stop. The woman was killed by a suicide belt, so she was either wearing one or someone in the same room as her was wearing one and a hostage taker only had to push a button as soon as he heard something.

The special forces did what they could, the blame does not rest with them but those who authorised and organised the rescue attempt in the first place. Stop insulting men to whom you are an insect in comparison.

im not insulting the men who put thier lives on the line,im pointing out that the facts

1. she was emplyed by the U.S goverment on a major project
2. where was the security to protect her.
3. she is a brittish subject.
4. its the tried and proven SAS job to get her , it the principle of the matter, our principles are what makes us brittish and made us the envy of the world, so sad that changed.
5.the local afgans also stated they would get her back and not to go ahead with this, id actualy listen to the local man , he realy does no better than unlce sam. hearts and minds ppl.

we didnt need the US to get her , i pointed out this is nothing more than too save face, they should have looked after her to begin with

well the bbc is so accurate to say it was a grenade that killed her, hhmm thought it was a suicide belt

reply to post by KDM_Souljah


I am not sure why US forces were used, or where they are from. One can only hope that they were an SMU and fully qualified to conduct this operation.

The hostage takers had become agitated on the day of the operation and there were fears that the hostages were going to be moved into Pakistan and sold into the hands of a more uncompromising group. I assume that time was of the essence and the US forces could have been deployed more quickly, for whatever reason, and that is why they were chosen for the operation.

Agree with all the comments that it is a sad ending and it is wrong to take hostages and kill them.

But, just so we dont forget, the Afganistan troops, Taliban, etc, probably dont have the same media coverage as we do and most likely think that they are being occupied by enemy forces and people like Linda Norgrove are invaders. So, i'm not justifing their actions, just pointing out that, from their point of view, they are fighting an invading enemy and defending their country.

According to the Sunday Times, US forces were chosen because they were more familiar with the terrain. I do not agree with this at all. They were rappelled from helicopters far enough away to close in on the house undetected and were only noticed once they stormed the house. The only combat took place in the house itself and the terrain had no impact on the operation and neither should it. I have no idea why this decision was made.

I don't even know why they should be more familiar with the terrain in the first place.

i realy do see your point that your making, the american special force's may have been the only option and yes i beleive they are well trained and also very motivated and teamplayers and all that goes with that, and i will go out on a limb and say when they carried out the operation they did it to the best of thier ability under the circumstances, and i didnt say that when i first wrote my reply as it had been said by other posters and i opoligise for that, im a little pissed off because i can relate to this woman as she is a highlander like myself and the island of lewis is where i come from orginaly and i feel a connection to this person and i just think theres more to this than whats goin on.

she had no protection, i just cant accept she had 150,000,000 dollars to spend on redevelopment but at the same time had no security, it makes no sense.

the more information the better and we can find out what realy happened
the woman hasnt even been flown back to stornaway and buried yet