The cause of Linda Norgrove’s death is now in doubt following a review of the surveillance footage of the abducted British aid worker’s rescue attempt over the weekend.
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said Monday (Oct. 11) that Norgrove may have been fatally wounded due to a grenade detonated by a U.S. special forces unit that tried to rescue her.
An earlier NATO statement claimed that U.S. special forces were “seconds” close to rescuing Norgrove, who worked for U.S. development contractor DAI, when one of her captors detonated a suicide bomber’s vest and, in turn, killed the British aid worker.
>> Kidnapped Aid Worker in Afghanistan Killed During Rescue
A review of the surveillance footage, however, has cast doubt on this earlier report.
“The review showed what was believed to be a member of the rescue team throwing a grenade into the area where Miss Norgrove was being held,” Maj. Sunset Belinsky, U.S. military spokeswoman in Kabul, was quoted by The Guardian as saying. “The circumstances of her death are now unclear.”
Norgrove is the latest casualty in a series of tragic attacks on aid workers in Afghanistan. Just earlier this month, Oxfam GB suspended operations in the country’s north due to the fear of violent attacks.
Cameron said a joint U.S.-U.K. investigation will be launched to determine what caused Norgrove’s death. The British prime minister has spoken with U.S. President Barack Obama and agreed on a probe into Norgrove’s death, Sky News reports.
U.S. Maj. Gen. Joseph Votel, chief of staff of the U.S. Special Operations Command, will lead the investigation, which will examine the surveillance footage of the rescue operation taken by helicopters or pilotless drone aircraft and footage from cameras mounted on the helmets of the soldiers on the ground, sources told the BBC’s Washington correspondent, Adam Brookes.
What Norgrove’s family is “looking for is the truth of what happened in Afghanistan, and that’s the only thing that’s going to allow them to get closure and get on with the rest of their lives,” Norman Macdonald, a family friend, was quoted by Mail Online as saying.
Aid workers slam botched rescue bid
The failed rescue attempt drew flak from aid workers in Kabul, who raised concern over the decision to conduct a rescue operation when Norgrove had been held captive for only three weeks.
>> 4 Aid Workers Abducted in Afghanistan
>> Search for Abducted Aid Workers in Afghanistan Continues
“Everyone in Afghanistan knows that you have to go through traditional tribal routes to get hostages free,” one aid worker was quoted by The Guardian as saying. “All the Afghans say ‘just why don’t you leave it a bit longer?’”
The Guardian quoted another U.N. worker, who wrote on her blog: “If I’m ever kidnapped here, I do not want to be rescued. Afghanistan isn’t Hollywood; hostages are likely to be killed in armed rescue attempts.”
A security report circulated among aid organizations in Kabul shortly following Norgrove’s kidnapping on Sept. 26, The Guardian reports. It noted that “a delegation from the local community” had gotten in touch with the abductors “in order to initiate negotiations.” Tribal leaders had also reportedly asked for more time to negotiate with the kidnappers.
Cameron defends rescue operation
Cameron earlier said it had been “right to try” to rescue Norgrove.
In Monday’s press conference, the British prime minister said he gave the go-ahead for the U.S.-led rescue bid amid fears that Norgrove “was going to be passed up the terrorist chain which would increase further the already high risk that she would be killed,” BBC reports.
The area in eastern Afghanistan, where Norgrove was held, was controlled by the U.S., Cameron said when asked whether he had considered sending British special forces instead.
Foreign Secretary William Hague later said in a statement to the House of Commons that “we agreed from the outset this would be US-led,” Sky News reports.