British Woman, Linda Norgrove, USAID Worker, DIA, Missing Captured Kidnapped in Afghanistan

BBC Update

Linda Norgrove, 36, from Lewis in the Western Isles of Scotland, was employed by US aid group DAI. She was seized with three local staff on 26 September.

Their two-car convoy was ambushed in the eastern province of Kunar.

Ms Norgrove was killed by her captors on Friday during a rescue mission by US forces.

Her colleagues were released unharmed last week

The Briton is believed to have been taken by her captors from village to village as British, Afghan and other intelligence agencies worked in the remote and mountainous area of Kunar province to locate her.

Both the prime minister and Foreign Secretary William Hague were kept fully informed and British approval was given for a rescue mission to be mounted on Friday night, involving US forces with British officials offering advice.

In a statement, Mr 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.

9 October 2010 Last updated at 09:06 ET BBC News

A British aid worker who was abducted in Afghanistan last month has been killed by her captors.

Linda Norgrove died during an attempt by US special forces to rescue her. She was 36 and from the Isle of Lewis in Scotland and was working in Afghanistan for the American aid group, DAI.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said everything possible was done to rescue to Ms Norgrove.

The following are excerpts from a variety of reports that are available as of 10 am est

Will update with details as reports are confirmed.

Linda Norgrove from May

Ten Aid Workers DIA from August

The Foreign Office is investigating the disappearance of a British national in Afghanistan.

A spokeswoman said: “We are working with other international agencies to urgently investigate these reports.”

She is said to have been travelling in a convoy of two vehicles, with others working for the US civilian contractors, when they were attacked by insurgents …

She was working for an American contractor when the convoy she was travelling in was intercepted by militants.

LONDON — Britain’s Foreign Office says it is investigating reports that a U.K. citizen has disappeared in Afghanistan.

The ministry confirmed that a Briton is missing, but declined to provide further details or specify the region where the person had disappeared.

In a statement, the Foreign Office said it was “working with other international partners to urgently investigate these reports.”

Britain’s Sky News television reported the person involved was a British woman working for a U.S. company.

The channel claimed the woman may have been kidnapped after a convoy of two vehicles was ambushed in the eastern Kunar province.

The Foreign Office said it could not confirm reports about the nature of the incident.

Afghan media reported that the Briton was employed by Development Alternatives Inc (DAI) an American aid contracting firm.

The attack happened on Sunday morning in eastern Kunar province as the aid workers were travelling in two vehicles from Asadabadm the provincial capital, to Jalalabad.

Suspected insurgents stopped them in the Spin Jumaat area of Sawakai district at 11am local time, said Gen Abdus Saboor Allahyar, the provincial police chief.

He said DAI workers had not informed police of their journey.