Praise for US troops' bravery in Linda Norgrove rescue bid

A CORONER has praised the courage of the United States special forces who mounted a botched mission to rescue kidnapped Scottish aid worker Linda Norgrove in Afghanistan.

Ms Norgrove, 36, was killed by a grenade thrown by a US soldier.

Giving a narrative verdict at her inquest, Wiltshire coroner David Ridley said the serviceman "genuinely feared for the safety of the lives of his colleagues and also himself and had to make a critical decision in a fraction of a second".

And he hailed the "bravery and courage shown by the US special forces in even attempting that rescue".

Ms Norgrove, from the Isle of Lewis, was working for an aid company when she was seized during an ambush in the Dewagal valley in Kunar province on 26 September last year.

The inquest heard that visibility was so poor the US troops who tried to rescue her had been unaware of her presence as they fired at insurgents and the fatal grenade was thrown.

Giving evidence at Wiltshire and Swindon Coroner's Court, British Brigadier Robert Nitsch, who helped to investigate the incident, said a US soldier had thrown the grenade as he feared his comrades were in danger and had been "thinking at a million miles a minute at this time".

The soldier was part of a team that ventured on to the hostile mountain terrain by helicopter at night on 8 October.

The conditions were challenging, with anyone wishing to traverse the land having to do so on foot or by pack animal, the inquest was told.

The first time Ms Norgrove was identified as being there was some eight or nine minutes into the mission, he said.

But by then it was too late, as the action took place in just 59 seconds. First, US troops shot and killed one insurgent as they came on to a terrace near the buildings.

The team then approached along the terrace and at this point Ms Norgrove and one of her captors left one of the buildings, the aid worker stumbling as she went.This was seen on an enhanced video of the operation afterwards, but at the time the troops could not see she was there.

Another insurgent appeared and was shot by the troops, before a US soldier shot Ms Norgrove's captor, who fell down some steps.

Ms Norgrove also fell to the ground, and it was around this time that the grenade was launched.

"One of the team members decides he feels significantly under threat and makes the decision to throw a grenade into the gap between the buildings," Brigadier Nitsch said.

It was this grenade that killed Ms Norgrove, he said.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, false information was given that she had been killed by an Afghan insurgent, with the truth not emerging for almost two days.

This was partly because the team leader of the operation believed that her captor had blown himself up, the inquest heard.

In a statement released after the verdict, Ms Norgrove's family said it had confirmed what they already knew.

"What we have heard today at the inquest generally confirms the account given last year at the briefing we received following the joint US-UK military investigation.

"A series of chance events all going the wrong way and an error of judgment by one of the special forces resulted in our daughter's death.

"She was a lovely girl, had so much to offer and was such a force for good in the world," Ms Norgrove's family said. "We miss her terribly. The whole affair is a tragedy."