An American hostage was killed in an counterterrorism operation when a drone strike inadvertently took the lives of two hostages. The White House stated on Thursday that one of the hostages was U.S. citizen Warren Weinstein, who was abducted by al Qaeda in 2011.
The airstrike, which occurred back in January, was conducted under the belief that no hostages were present. Unfortunately, both Warren Weinstein and Italian Giovanni Lo Porto died as a result of the drone strike. According to President Obama, both were committed to helping others.
Warren Weinstein was abducted by al Qaeda gunmen in Lahore, Pakistan. He was working as a contractor for USAID, or U.S. Agency for International Development, before he was taken by gunmen in his home. According to CNN, the abductors posed as neighbors offering food and then pistol-whipped Weinstein. The aid worker was a development expert and worked for J.E. Austin Associates Inc., a contractor for USAID.
Weinstein's family was notified of his death on Wednesday. Though his body and DNA testing are not available, U.S. officials claim to have evidence of Weinstein's death. His wife, Elaine Weinstein, gave a statement.
"On behalf of myself, our two daughters, our son-in-law, and two grandchildren, we are devastated by this news and the knowledge that my husband will never safely return home. We were so hopeful that those in the U.S. and Pakistani governments with the power to take action and secure his release would have done everything possible to do so and there are no words to do justice to the disappointment and heartbreak we are going through," said the statement.
"Warren spent his entire life working to benefit people across the globe and loved the work that he did to make people's lives better. In Pakistan, where he was working before he was abducted, he loved and respected the Pakistani people and their culture. He learned to speak Urdu and did everything he could to show his utmost and profound respect for the region. We cannot even begin to express the pain our family is going through and we ask for the respect of our privacy as we go through this devastating ordeal."
