Scottish aid worker killed by wounds to head and chest

Kidnapped Scottish aid worker Linda Norgrove, who is believed to have been killed accidentally by US forces sent to rescue her in Afghanistan, died of penetrating fragment injuries to her head and chest, an inquest has heard.

Detective Chief Inspector Colin Smith of the Metropolitan Police revealed details of the post mortem examination at the opening of the inquest at the coroner's court in Salisbury, Wiltshire.

Her death was initially blamed on her captors, but US forces later said she may have been killed accidentally by one of those sent to free her.

A US special forces soldier is reportedly facing disciplinary action for throwing the fragmentation grenade believed to have killed her.

Ms Norgrove, 36, from the Western Isles, was kidnapped by militants in the Dewagal valley in Kunar province on 26 September.

Three local staff were taken with her when the cars they were travelling in were ambushed.

The staff were released unharmed, but Ms Norgrove was killed during the rescue mission on 8 October.

A former United Nations employee, Ms Norgrove was working for the firm Development Alternatives Inc (DAI) at the time of her kidnap.

Based in Jalalabad, she supervised reconstruction programmes in the eastern region of Afghanistan funded by the US government.

Ms Norgrove's funeral will be held on Tuesday at Uig Community Centre in Timsgarry, Uig, on the Isle of Lewis, where her parents Lorna, 62, and John, 60, live.

The Norgrove family said friends and everyone who knows the family would be welcome. Rather than flowers, they requested donations to a charitable foundation they set up to continue the work Ms Norgrove was doing in Afghanistan.

It is called the Linda Norgrove Foundation and will fund women and family-oriented schemes, such as scholarships for Afghan women to attend universities.

Mr Smith told the inquest that the three Afghan nationals who were also kidnapped were released unharmed on 3 October.

He said Ms Norgrove was being held in a compound in a densely wooded area.

"Every effort was made to secure Linda's safe release," he told the hearing. "She was killed during this operation."

Ms Norgrove was pronounced dead at 2.27am on 9 October at Bagram Airfield and was identified using her passport photograph.

Her body was flown back to RAF Lyneham in the United Kingdom, via Camp Bastion in Afghanistan. David Ridley, coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon, adjourned the inquest to a date to be fixed.