Kabul - US and UK military officials on Tuesday began probing the tragic death of a captive British aid worker, possibly killed by a grenade thrown by American special forces during a failed rescue mission.
In other violence, two people were killed and 10 others wounded in an explosion aboard a coalition helicopter just after it landed in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday. The coalition said it's unclear what caused the blast.
Ten civilians were killed in an insurgent rocket attack and a roadside bombing on Monday in the south and east, Afghan officials said.
The death of Linda Norgrove, 36, has reverberated through the corridors of power from Kabul, to London, to Washington - where President Barack Obama expressed condolences and pledged “to get to the bottom” of what happened during the deadly raid.
Norgrove and six insurgents were killed Friday night after US special forces stormed a compound in eastern Kunar province. Norgrove was held for two weeks after she and three Afghan colleagues were ambushed and kidnapped Sept. 26. Her colleagues were quickly freed.
NATO said initially Norgrove was killed at the hands of her captors. On Monday, however, alliance officials said new information had come to light indicating Norgrove may have been killed by a US grenade.
“The review showed what was believed to be a member of the rescue team throwing a hand grenade in the area near where Ms Norgrove was later found,” said NATO spokeswoman Major Sunset Belinsky. “It's now unclear what the exact circumstances surrounding her death are, and the investigation will attempt to determine the facts.”
The White House said Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron both said the rescue operation was necessary and “agreed that it was now essential to get to the bottom of what had happened in the course of the rescue operation”.
Obama offered his condolences to Cameron in a phone call on Monday and promised a full investigation.
Cameron defended Friday's rescue mission.
“We were clear that Linda's life was in grave danger and the operation offered the best chance of saving her life,” Cameron told reporters at a news conference on Monday.
Norgrove, from Scotland's Isle of Lewis, worked on a US-funded aid project for Development Alternatives Inc, a Bethesda, Maryland-based organisation. She had worked in Afghanistan for years on various aid projects, spoke the language and was “dedicated to Afghanistan”, according to a statement released by her employer.
When the rescue team assaulted the Taliban hide-out, they came under fire from within the compound as well as from an overwatch position nearby, said Lieutenant-Colonel John Dorrian, a spokesman at NATO headquarters in Kabul on Monday.
All six gunmen who fought back against the US force were killed.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Norgrove's captors intended to “pass her further up the Taliban command chain.”
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen emphasized that “whatever happened, I would like to stress that those who are responsible of course are the captors.”
Norgrove's father, John, said the family had no comment. - Sapa-AP